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SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN 



THE SUMMER PARADISE 
IN HISTORY 



A COMPILATION OF FACT AND TRADITION 

COVERING LAKE GEORGE, LAKE CHAM- 

PLAIN, THE ADIRONDACK MOUNTAINS, 

AND OTHER SECTIONS REACHED 

BY THE RAIL AND STEAMER 

LINES OF THE DELAWARE 

AND HUDSON COMPANY 



BY 
WARWICK STEVENS CARPENTER 



GENERAL PASSENGER DEPARTMENT 

THE DELAWARE AND HUDSON COMPANY 
ALBANY 



.CZ9 






Copyright, 1914 

by 

A. A. HEARD 



APR -8 1914 



©CI,A371396 /)^ 

AMERICAN DANK NOTE COMPANY 



To the Members of 

THE NEW YORK STATE HISTORICAL 
ASSOCIATION and 

THE LAKE CHAMPLAIN ASSOCIATION 

To whose efforts are so largely due the cherishing 
of old landmarks and the recording of history and 
tradition in the territory here covered 

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED 



Great islands appeared, leagues in extent: Isle k la 
Motte, Long Island, Grande Isle. Channels where ships 
might float and broad reaches of expanding water 
stretched before them, and Champlain entered the lake 

which preserves his name to posterity 

Their goal was the rocky promontory where Fort 
Ticonderoga was long afterward built. Thence, they 
would pass the outlet of Lake George, and launch their 
canoes again on that Como of the wilderness, whose 
waters, limpid as a fountain-head, stretched far south- 
ward between their flanking mountains. Landing at 
the future site of Fort William Henry, they would carry 
their canoes through the forest to the River Hudson, 
and, descending it, attack, perhaps, some outlying town 
of the Mohawks. In the next century this chain of 
lakes and rivers became the grand highway of savage 
and civiHzed war, a bloody debatable ground linked 
to memories of momentous conflicts. 

— Francis Parkman, 



FOREWORD 



T^HIS volume is the direct outgrowth of the "Literary and Historic 
-■- Note Book," covering the same territory, written for the Pas- 
senger Department of the Delaware and Hudson Company by Mr, 
Henry P. Phelps, and pubKshed in 1907. It appeared as a booklet 
of eighty pages, and at once met with an appreciation which has 
in no degree abated during the seven years of its circulation. Since 
that date the interest which had already developed in the historic 
country reached by the Delaware and Hudson Hues has been tremen- 
dously augmented, a fact well evidenced by the attention that 
historical societies and other organizations are giving to the subject. 
Among the latter may be mentioned the Glens Falls Insurance 
Company, which for many years has commissioned some of the 
leading American artists to make paintings of the more striking 
events. These pictures have been reproduced in original colors 
and widely distributed. The Champlain Tercentenary Celebration 
brought popular attention to a clearer focus, and it has been further 
sustained by the subsequent completion and dedication of the 
memorials at Crown Point and at Plattsburg, and by the restoration 
and preservation of the two old forts at Ticonderoga and Crown 
Point. This interest resulted in continued requests for the "Literary 
and Historic Note Book," which was out of print, and indicated the 
need for this larger and more complete and permanent volume. 

Even briefly to describe every event of romantic or historic 
moment in this territory would have required many times the 
space here available. Much has been necessarily ehminated, but 
an attempt has been made to include every really important inci- 
dent and those minor ones which are of particular interest to that 
large class of visitors who wish to know the history of their Summer 
Paradise. The style of the text, that of separate paragraphs for 
each event, after the manner of Lossing's well-known "Cyclopcedia of 
United States History," was determined by the need of such vaca- 



tionists for much data that could not well be put into connected 
form m a small volume. A synoptical narrative introduction, cov- 
ering the great campaigns for the control of the Champlain Valley, 
together with the Chronology which follows, are designed as a 
background against which each paragraph may be thrown into 
relief to show its proper relation to the times and to other events. 

In the preparation of the "Summer Paradise in History" part of 
the text in the "Literary and Historic Note Book" has been used, 
though largely revised to meet the requirements of the present 
volume. While no original research has been made, many authorities 
have been consulted, and material drawn from them. A list of these 
appears in the bibhography, and acknowledgment of indebtedness 
to them is hereby made. 



W. S. C. 



January 1, 1914 




ILLUSTRATIONS 

Cover Design from Detail of Champlain Memorial at 
Plattsburg, by Carl Augustus Heber 

Samuel de Champlain Frontispiece 

Restoration of Fort Ticonderoga 12 

Ruins of Fort Ticonderoga Facing 16 

Embarkation of Abercrombie's Expedition " 17 

Plan of Abercrombie's Attack on Carillon 18 

Battle of Lake Champlain Facing 32 

Grave of Captain Downie " 33 

Monument on Crab Island " 33 

Bloody Morning Scout 37 

Statue on Site of Cooper's Residence Facing 48 

Tablet to Commemorate Dam at Otsego Lake " 48 

Scene of the Battle of Lake Champlain " 49 

The Stourbridge Lion 50 

Fort St. Frederic 58 

Lake George Battle Monument Facing 64 

Ruins at Crown Point " 65 

Plan of Investment of Fort WiUiam Henry 66 

Jogues's Island Facing 80 

High Rock Spring in 1845 " 81 

Saratoga as It Is Today " 81 

Two Early Steamers on Lake Champlain 90 

Champlain Memorial at Crown Point Facing 96 

The Black Watch at Storming of Carillon " 97 

Champlain Memorial at Plattsburg " 112 

The Deep Cleft of Spht Rock " 113 



CHRONOLOGY 

1609 — July 4th. Samuel de Champlain discovered Lake Champlain. 
— July 30th. Champlain's battle with the Iroquois near Fort 

Ticonderoga. 
— September. Henry Hudson sailed up the Hudson River to 

near the present site of Albany, and went in a small boat 

to the falls at Troy. 

1614 — Dutch built Fort Nassau on Castle Island, opposite Albany. 

1624 — Dutch built Fort Orange on mainland where Albany now 
stands. 

1629 — Dutch West India Company established the Patroon System, 
under which much of the country about Albany was 
settled. 

1641 — Fort Richeheu built at mouth of RicheUeu River. 

1642 — August. Father Jogues first white man to see Lake George. 

1646 — Father Jogues, on eve of Corpus Christi, May 30, named Lake 
George Lac du St. Sacrement. 

1664 — Fort Richeheu rebuilt, and Forts St. Louis, at Chambly, and 
St. Theresa built. 
— English obtained possession of New Netherland and changed 
its name to New York. 

1665— Fort St. Anne built on Isle La Motte. 

1666 — January. 1st and unsuccessful expedition of the French 

under De Courcelles against Iroquois. 
— October. 2d and successful expedition of the French under 

De Tracy against Iroquois. 
— ^Arendt Van Corlear, returning through Lake Champlain 

with De Tracy, drowned off Split Rock, in memory of 

which the lake was long called Corlear 's Lake. 

1673 — Dutch again gained control of New York. 

1674 — New York passed permanently into possession of England. 

1689— King Wilham's War began. 

1690 — February 8th. Schenectady Massacre. 

— August. Winthrop's expedition against the French proceeded 

to Lake Champlain and returned. 
— August. Expedition of Capt. John Schuyler against French 

Fort La Prairie on the St. Lawrence. 



1691 — June. Captui-e of Fort La Prairie by Maj. Philip Schuyler. 

1693 — January and February. Expedition of French against 
Mohawk towns, during which battle of Wilton was fought 
near Saratoga. 

1697— Treaty of Ryswick. 

1702 — Queen Anne's War began. 

1709 — Nicholson's expedition against the French advanced as far 
as site of Fort Anne, building a road through the wilderness 
from Schuylerville to mouth of Wood Creek, along route 
now occupied by the Delaware and Hudson hues, and 
Fort Ingoldsby, Fort Miller, Fort Saratoga, Fort Schuyler 
and Fort Nicholson. It returned without dehvering a 
blow after destroying forts as far south as Saratoga. 

1713— Treaty of Utrecht. 

1731— Fort St. Frederic built at Crown Point. 

1744 — ^King George's War began. 

1745 — November 17th. Saratoga Massacre. 

1746 — Fort Clinton rebuilt on site of old Fort Saratoga. 

1747 — Fort Chnton abandoned and burned. 

1748— Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. 

1754 — First Colonial Congress met in Albany to consider plans of 
union. 

1755 — ^Fort Carillon begun by the French. 

— July. Old Fort Nicholson rebuilt and renamed Fort Edward. 
— August. Fort Hardy built on the site of Schuylerville by 

Gen. Phinehas Lyman. 
— August 28th. Gen. Wilham Johnson changed name of Lac 

du St. Sacrement to Lake George. 
— September 8th. Battle of Lake George. 
— Fort WiUiam Henry begun by Johnson. 

1756 — Great Britain declared war against France. 
— Fort WilHam Henry completed. 
— Fort Carillon, afterward called Ticonderoga, completed. 

1757 — March 18th. Vaudreuil advanced over the ice on Lake 
George and attacked Fort Wilham Henry, burning every- 
thing outside of the walls. 

— July 26th. Harbor Island Massacre. 

— August 10th. Fort Wilham Henry taken by Montcalm and 
garrison massacred by Indians. 

1758 — July 5th-9th. Abercrombie's unsuccessful expedition against 
Ticonderoga. 



1759 — Fort George built by General Amherst near site of Fort 

William Henry. 
— July 27th. Ticonderoga abandoned by the French in face of 

Amherst's advance. 
— July 31st. Fort St. Frederic destroyed by retreating French. 
— August. Amherst commenced rebuilding St. Frederic, now 

called Crown Point. 
— September 14th. Montcalm died at Quebec, following Wolfe's 

capture of the city. 
— October 13th. Captain Loring, in first naval battle on Lake 

Champlain, defeated a French schooner and three sloops 

off Valcour Island. 

1760 — September 8th. Montreal surrendered by Vaudreuil to 
EngUsh. 

1763 — First attempt at settlement of Wyoming Valley. 

— February 10th. By treaty signed at Paris, France ceded 
all her possessions in North America to Great Britain. 

1771 — ^First hotel in Saratoga built near High Rock Spring. 

1775 — ^Revolutionary War began. 

— May 10th. Ticonderoga captured by Ethan Allen. 

— May 12th. Crown Point captured by Seth Warner, and Fort 

George by Bernard Romans. 
— September 4th. General Montgomery embarked at Crown 

Point on expedition against Canada. 
— November 3d. Montgomery, advancing against Montreal, 

captured St. John on the Richeheu River. 

1776 — June 14th. American troops in Canada began to withdraw 
up the Richeheu River and reached Crown Point July 3d. 
— October 11th. Battle of Valcour Island, between fleets of 
Benedict Arnold and Capt. Thomas Pringle. 

1777 — Burgoyne's Campaign. 

— ^July 6th . Ticonderoga evacuated before Burgoyne's advance . 

— ^July 7th. Battle of Hubbardton. 

— July 24th. Battle of Diamond Island on Lake George. 

— July 27th. Jane McCrea murdered by Indians of Burgoyne's 

army, 
— September 19th. Battle of Freeman's Farm or Bemis 

Heights, the first important engagement about Saratoga, 

known also as First Battle of Saratoga. 
— October 7th. Second Battle of Saratoga. 
— October 17th. Surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga. 

1778— May 30th. Cobleskill Massacre. 
— July 3d. Wyoming Massacre. 
— November 11th. Cherry Valley Massacre. 



1779 — July, August and September. Sullivan's expedition against 
Indians and Tories of western New York. 

1783 — Gen. Philip Schuyler built first summer residence at Saratoga 
Springs. 
— September 3d. Treaty of peace signed at Paris between 
England and the United States. 

1807 — September 5th. Fulton's steamboat, the Clermont, arrived 
in Albany, after first successful trip. 

1809 — Steamer Vermont began regular service on Lake Champlain, 
being the second regularly and successfully operated steam- 
boat in the world. 

1812 — June 17th. War declared against Great Britain. 

1813 — Lake Champlain Steamboat Company, known later as Cham- 
plain Transportation Company, chartered by New York 
Legislature, thus making the Champlain Transportation 
Company the oldest steamboat corporation in the world. 
— June 3d. Sloops Growler and Eagle sunk by British in the 
JRicheheu River. 

1814 — British, under Sir George Preyost. invaded the United States 
and advanced to the vicinity of Plattsburg by September 
4th, while the British squadron, under Captain Downie, 
advanced up the lake to Isle La Motte. 
— September 11th. Battle of Lake Champlain between Com- 
modore MacDonough and Captain Downie, and Battle of 
Plattsburg on land. 
— December 24th. Treaty of Ghent signed by United States 
and Great Britain. 

1839 — Anti-Rent Agitation began in New York State. 

1846 — Constitutional Convention in New York State adopted 
amendments abolishing feudal tenure, thus ending Anti- 
Rent Agitation. 

1909 — July 4th-10th. Tercentenary celebration of the discovery 
of Lake Champlain. 

1912 — July 5th-6th. Dedication of Champlain Memorials at 
Crown Point and Plattsburg. 



INTRODUCTION 



THE GATE OF THE COUNTRY 

BESIDE earth's oldest waterway the oldest mountains stand. 
Far back in the aeons of unrecorded time, beside which the 
longest periods of history and tradition are as fleeting moments, the 
great crest of the Laurentian system of rocks, the Adirondacks, 
thrust its bold peaks above the primordial ocean. From their cul- 
mination they extended northward and eastward to Labrador and 
ran out into the northwest. Long afterward another convulsion up- 
reared the ridges of the Appalachians, a shm spur of which, the 
Green Mountains, shot parallel to the Adirondacks. In the tremen- 
dous strains which accompanied this second disturbance, long 
faults, or rifts, appeared at the edge of the Laurentian rocks. The 
greatest of these rifts ran northeasterly and southwesterly to form 
the valley of the St. Lawrence and continued more southerly beside 
the base of the Adirondacks, through the Champlain Valley. There, 
on the eastern edge of the valley, the substrata of the ocean were 
lifted gently upward, while on the western edge they sunk precipitately 
to form the rugged cliffs which sweep in dizzying Unes from Port 
Henry to Bluff Point. Through the valley thus created the waters 
of the ancient inland sea of North America were still united with 
the ocean. Subsequently the floor of the valley was upheaved until 
the salt water of the sea drained out and left a fresh water lake, but 
Uttle smaller than today. It flowed sometimes north into the St. 
Lawrence and sometimes south into the great interior sea, or down 
through the Hudson Valley, according to the tilting of the land. 

Then came the long age of ice, when the whole northern country 
was subjected to the grinding of the glaciers, which brought down 
vast quantities of rock and other deposits. The retreating ice left 
a great body of fresh water in the Champlain Valley, reaching back 
into Lake George and the depressions of the Adirondacks, the out- 
let of which was down the Hudson. As the ice receded northward 
the land subsided, untU at last, in place of glacier and fresh water 
in the valley, the ocean again rolled, extending southward as far as 
Port Henry, followed a gradual downward tilt of the long Champlain 
and Hudson Valleys at the south, drowning the Hudson a hundred 



miles below Manhattan and raising the northern end of the lake until 
the waters of the sea ran out. In the basin that remained lay Lake 
Champlain, its ancient valley intact, bordered by its primitive cliffs, 
and making natural highway from the great seaport on the south, 
where once it flowed, to the sister port at the north, to which its 
waters were now turned. Thus in the earhest paroxysms of the earth 
were formed the conditions which have made this great route the 
most fiercely contested and historic highway of the continent. 

Of the dark ages of aboriginal strife we know practically nothing. 
It does not appear that the long lakeside from Fort WilUam Henry 
to the foot of Champlain was then the permanent home of Indian 
tribes, but rather that they made it their highway for maraud- 
ing expeditions, with frequent clashes when war parties met along 
the shores. Certainly this was the condition in 1609, and had been 
long previous, when Samuel de Champlain and his barbarian alhes 
paddled up the lake on their memorable voyage of discovery. They 
had reached almost to the carry between Lake Champlain and Lake 
George, which wound around the chiming waters of Ticonderoga, 
when the first of those savage and chance encounters to be recorded 
in history occurred. With the help of their French supporters, the 
Algonquins of the north were triumphantly victorious, but in their 
success on the still unnamed lake, before even Henry Hudson had 
ascended his river, was decided one of the almost forgotten and ap- 
parently unimportant events which, it is hardly exaggeration to say, 
determined the whole aftercourse of history in North America. 
By it was incurred the deadly enmity of the powerful tribes of 
central New York, and by it the French occupation of the valley 
of the St. Lawrence and of Lake Champlain was hindered and set 
back. Thus, while the French were strugghng to estabhsh their 
infant colony in the hostile wilderness, a settlement developed at 
the farther end of the long valley which should ultimately gain 
the ascendency. 

It was reaHzed in the beginning that the struggle must come. 
Dm-ing Dutch rule at Fort Orange and New Amsterdam, punitive 
French expeditions pushed southward to the Indian villages along 
the Mohawk, and adventurous explorers and trappers, the first 
coureurs de hois, who have spread such glamour over the pages of 
American history, had penetrated into every recess of the country, 
and knew well what it promised. Similarly the Dutch, in the security 
of their friendship with the Iroquois, had acquired first-hand knowl- 
edge of the territory. But France and the Netherlands were at peace, 
and their far-flung outposts were still deeply occupied in securing 
their first precarious foothold. 



The situation rapidly changed. In 1674 England permanently 
displaced Dutch rule and brought her great resources and restless 
energy to the struggling province of New York. She brought also 
her enmity of France and her antagonism to French ambition. In 
1689, as a direct result of hostilities between the two parent countries, 
King Wilham's War began on the historic highway. It was well 
started with the horrible Massacre of Schenectady in February, 1690. 
Throughout this war no decisive results were achieved, though 
several expeditions were launched against the rival settlements and 
much border warfare resulted. 

The first truce was called in 1697, when the Treaty of Ryswick 
was signed between France and England. It was of short duration. 
In 1702 the two countries were again in arms on the other side of the 
Atlantic, in what was known there as the War of the Spanish Succes- 
sion, and in America as Queen Anne's War. It was not until 1709 
that an important move was made here, though raids were many. 
In that year occurred Nicholson's expedition, which advanced as far 
as Fort Anne and returned without striking a blow. 

The treaty of Utrecht, in 1713, brought a lull of some thirty years, 
during which both colonies grew rapidly stronger. Though they 
were at peace, the French founded a settlement and fort at Crown 
Point, called Fort St. Frederic. In 1744 began the war of the Aus- 
trian Succession, which is recorded in American history as King 
George's War. It witnessed the Saratoga Massacre and the fall 
of the strong French fort at Louisburg, on Cape Breton Island. 
Louisburg was restored to France, however, by the Treaty of Aix- 
la-Chapelle, in 1748. Thus in America the struggle had been 
barren of results, except as a training for the final test to follow. 

In full knowledge of the fact that this test was now imminent, the 
French proceeded energetically to strengthen their position during 
the interval of peace. Alarmed by these activities, the colonists, 
in the summer of 1755, though still nominally at peace, dispatched 
Gen. Sir WiUiam Johnson against St. Frederic, and the French began 
Fort Carillon, later called Ticonderoga. It was the first move in the 
French and Indian War, which was formally declared by England 
against France the following year. In 1756 Fort William Henry, 
which Johnson had begun in 1755, was finished, and CariUon was 
strengthened and practically completed. The field for the final 
desperate struggle was determined and the goals set. 

The first advantage was secured by Montcalm, when in 1757 he 
captured Fort William Henry, and its garrison was massacred by his 
Indian allies. There followed the abortive expedition of Abercrom- 
bie in 1758, when the most perfectly appointed and powerful army 



that had yet been raised in America was rolled back from the walls 
of Carillon. But the flood of English determination rose higher in 
1759, sweeping the Ulies of France from their southern ramparts and 
ending forever their dominion on the inland sea. The same summer 
Quebec fell before the forlorn attack of Wolfe, and in 1760 Montreal 
surrendered to the Enghsh, thus closing the reign of France in 
Canada. 

For fifteen years peace brooded over the northern war trails. 
When the banners were again unfurled, in 1775, they heralded a new 
object. Here was no thought of territorial aggrandizement. But 
though the War of Independence had a far different purpose than 
the old struggles with the French, the same strategy remained. Of 
paramount importance was the control of the Gate of the Country. 

Wlio held this historic gateway could decide the fate of the colonies 
and of dominion upon the American continent. With proper prep- 
aration and support it could be defended at many points. At 
Ticonderoga the French had built Fort Carillon in the fond hope 
that it would secure them against the northward advance of the 
British. But they had been forced to retire by the generalship of 
Amherst. A few miles to the north the British had expended 
$10,000,000 upon extensive works on the site of old Fort St. Frederic. 
The location was well chosen, and had Crown Point been fully armed 
and garrisoned it might have proved impregnable against any attack. 
Again at Saratoga was a strong strategic point for checking an 
advancing army. At the dedication of the Saratoga Battle Monu- 
ment, in 1877, Horatio Seymour related that once, as General Scott 
overlooked from an elevated point the ground on which the battle 
was fought, "the old warrior, with a kindling eye, stretched out his 
arm, and said : 'Remember, this has been the great strategic point in 
all the wars waged for the control of this continent!' " 

In 1775 Ethan Allen and Seth Warner seized Ticonderoga and 
Crown Point, possessing without bloodshed the Gate of the Coun- 
try, which was held the following year by Benedict Arnold and his 
Uttle flotilla against the first southward advance of the British. 
But a year later Crown Point was evacuated by the colonists, and 
when Burgoyne placed his guns upon Mt. Defiance, St. Clair 
retreated from Ticonderoga. A single determined stand remained 
to the Patriot Army. With Burgoyne defeated at Saratoga, unable 
to go forward or retreat, and with no help in sight, his advance 
down the historic highway ended in failure and cast its influence 
over the whole subsequent trend of world history. 

Another similar campaign, following the same old strategy, was 
launched in 1814, but MacDonough. with his hastily assembled and 



V 




nondescript fleet manned by quickly trained levies from the land 
forces, "soldiers and sailors too," nipped the plans of the British in 
the bud and turned back the last armed expedition at the very 
threshold of the door. 

Today, the gate which has swung both ways to the conquering 
armies of two peoples and three nations stands wide and unguarded, 
while through it, forgetful of the perils of ambuscade and war, the 
citizens of all three nations pass unhindered. The war routes are 
still used, but not for war or the passage of armed fleets. Over 
them and along the bluff, archaic cliffs of the oldest valley, from the 
metropolis of one great country to the metropolis of the other, 
upon glistening bands of steel, or the unchanged expanse of the 
lakes, ply great steam shuttles, weaving stronger, as in a loom, the 
bonds of continued peace and prosperity. 




THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

ABERCROMBIE'S EXPEDITION was commanded by Maj.- 
l\. Gen. James Abercrombie, who, with a combined army of 
EngUsh and Colonial troops, marched against Ticonderoga in July, 
1758. His advance from the present site of Fort William Henry 
Hotel down through the long vista of mountains, islands and blue 
lake was as inspiring and spectacular as his retreat was pathetic. 
''Here," saj'^s Parkman, **on the ground where Johnson had beaten 
Dieskau (see Battle of Lake George), where Montcalm had planted 
his batteries, and Monro vainly defended the wooden ramparts of 
Fort William Henry (q. v.), were now assembled more than fifteen 
thousand men; and the shores, the foot of the mountains, and the 
broken plains between them were studded thick with tents. Of 
regulars there were six thousand three hundred and sixty-seven — 
officers and soldiers — and of provincials, nine thousand and thirty- 
four. To the New England levies, or at least to their chaplains, 
the expedition seemed a crusade against the abomination of Babylon; 
and they discoursed in their sermons of Moses sending forth Joshua 
against Amalek. Abercrombie, raised to his place by political 
influence, was Httle but the nominal commander. 'A heavy man,' 
said WoKe in a letter to his father; 'an aged gentleman, infirm in 
body and mind,' wrote William Parkman, a boy of seventeen, who 
carried a musket in a Massachusetts regiment, and kept in hia 
knapsack a dingy Httle notebook in which he jotted down what 
passed each day. The age of the aged gentleman was fifty-two. 
On the evening of the fourth of July, baggage, stores and ammunition 
were all on board the boats, and the whole army embarked on the 
morning of the fifth." It is this embarkation which F. C. Yohn 
has painted, as shown in the illustration facing page 17. "The 
arrangements were perfect. Each corps marched without confusion 
to its appointed station on the beach, and the sun was scarcely 
above the ridge of French Mountain when all were afloat. A spec- 
tator watching them from the shore says that when the fleet was 
three miles on its way, the surface of the lake at that distance was 
completely hidden from sight. There were nine hundred bateaux, 
a hundred and thirty-five whaleboats, and a large number of heavy 
flatboats carrying the artillery. The whole advanced in three 
divisions — the regulars in the center and the provincials on the 
flanks. Each corps had its flags and its music. The day was fair, 

119] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

and men and officers were in the highest spirits. Before ten o'clock 
they began to enter the Narrows; and the boats of the three divisions 
extended themselves into long files as the mountains closed on 
either hand upon the contracted lake. From front to rear the line 
was six miles long. The spectacle was superb — the brightness of 
the summer day; the romantic beauty of the scenery; the sheen 
and sparkle of those crystal waters; the countless islets, tufted with 
pine, birch, and fir; the bordering mountains, with their green 
summits and sunny crags; the flash of oars and glitter of weapons; 
the banners, the varied uniforms, and the notes of bugle, trumpet, 
bagpipe, and drum, answered and prolonged by a hundred wood- 
land echoes. *1 never beheld so delightful a prospect,' wrote a 
wounded officer at Albany a fortnight after." 

They landed where Montcalm, with less than a fourth of their 
number, awaited the attack. Lord Howe (q. v.), a brigadier-general 
attached to the staff of Abercrombie, had a far greater grasp upon 
the situation than Abercrombie himself. Previous to the expedition, 
attired in the simple uniform of the rangers, he had reconnoitered 
the vicinity of Ticonderoga with Lieut. John Stark and others, 
and it is a tradition in the Stark family that he had even stood with 
Stark upon the top of Mt. Defiance and had remarked to him that a 
small battery upon that eminence would turn the trick nicely. 
Chief adviser of Abercrombie, he was thus in position to materially 
influence the plan of attack. As the Engfish advanced in three 
parallel columns from the foot of Lake George, firing was heard in 
the woods to one side, and Howe rushed up to learn its cause. It 
came from an outpost of French, one of whom shot him as he broke 
through the bushes. His loss was irreparable, and thenceforth the 
attack proceeded in utter defiance of reason. 

Montcalm's men were almost entirely regular troops, and they 
were posted on high ground at the neck of the peninsula on which 
the fort stands. They were sheltered behind a breastwork of trunks 
of trees, protected in front by a vast and tangled abattis. Aber- 
crombie had a powerful artillery train, but, hearing that his enemy 
would soon be reinforced, he did not wait to bring it into action, and 
ordered an attack with musketry alone. The battle raged from one 
o'clock till evening of July 8. The English displayed desperate 
courage, but could not force the breastworks and abattis, which, in 
themselves almost impregnable, were defended with the utmost 
gallantry. At night the assailants withdrew in disorder, with the 
loss of two thousand men. Though the Engfish were defeated, 

[20 1 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

it was the last important success of the French arms on the con- 
tinent of North America. 

On the morning after his victory Montcalm planted on the field 
a great cross inscribed with these lines, composed by himself: 

"Quid dux? quid miles? quid strata igentia lignaf 

En Signum! en victor! Deus hiCj deus ipse triumphat." 

"Soldiers and chief, and ramparts' strength are naught; 
Behold the Conquering Cross! 'Tis God the triumph wrought! " 

ADIRONDACK MOUNTAINS comprise that vast system of 
rugged wilderness extending northward from the neighborhood of 
Saratoga nearly to the St. Lawrence River and westward from 
Lake George and Lake Champlain, occupying almost the entire 
northeastern corner of New York. They form part of the great 
Laurentian system of rocks, which constitutes the oldest known 
portion of the earth's crust to be thrust above the primeval sea. 
They were probably at no time the permanent abode of any of the 
aboriginal inhabitants of the country. By the Iroquois they were 
called the Couch-sa-ra-ge, or Dismal Wilderness, and were a favorite 
hunting ground of that nation. Their present name is the derisive 
term which the Iroquois applied to their enemies, the Algonquins, 
"Tree Eaters, " when they were forced to subsist upon bark and roots. 

ADIRONDACK WRITERS. The late Rev. W. H. H. Murray, 
better known as Adirondack Murray, has been, perhaps, one of the 
widest read writers on this subject. He published "Camp Life in 
the Adirondacks" in 1868 and "Adirondack Tales" in 1877, both 
volumes attracting much attention and some criticism. Before this, 
however, Alfred B. Street had published "Woods and Waters, 
or Summer in the Saranacs" (1865), and several years later 
"The Indian Pass," describing explorations in Essex county, and 
"Lake and Mountain, or Autumn in the Adirondacks." Mr. 
Street also contributed sixteen poems to accompany John A. Howe's 
"Forest Pictures in the Adirondacks, " and many of his collected 
poems are tinged with the same local color. 

Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester in 1877 published "Historical 
Sketches of Northern New York and the Adirondack Wilderness," 
a work which contains much interesting matter. 

Philander Deming, a graceful and effective writer of fiction, has a 
volume of "Adirondack Stories," pubhshed in 1886, and scattered 
through the magazines are scores of sketches of Adirondack life and 
scenery. In fact there is probably no section of the country that 

121] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

has inspired more prose and verse with forest, lake or mountain 
setting than the Adirondacks, though much of it is not definitely 
locaUzed there. 

AIKEN'S VOLUNTEERS were composed of seventeen young 
men, who, though too young to be hable for mihtary duty, fought at 
the battle of Plattsburg (q. v.). A resolution of Congress, passed 
in May, 1826, twelve years after the battle, authorized the dehvery 
to each of ''one rifle promised to them by General Macomb, while 
commanding the Champlain Department, for their services as a 
volunteer corps, during the siege of Plattsburg in September, 1814." 

A LA POCAHONTAS. The green in the center of the village of 
Sandy Hill, now Hudson Falls, is said to have been, during the French 
and Indian War, the scene of an incident not unlike that which 
befell Captain Smith in Virginia. A young man named Quacken- 
boss, of Albany, on the very eve of his marriage, was impressed into 
the pubUc service as a wagoner to carry provision to Fort WiUiam 
Henry, at Lake George. After passing Fort Edward he and his 
escort of sixteen men, under Lieutenant McGinnis of New Hampshire, 
were surprised by Indians under Marin, disarmed, bound, seated 
in a row, and deUberately tomahawked, one by one, all but the 
wagoner, who seemed to have found favor with one of the squaws 
during a brief interval preceding the execution. She arrested 
his slayer's arm, pleading, *' He's no fighter; he's my dog! " Loaded 
down with plunder like a packhorse, he was then marched towards 
Canada; at the first Indian encampment on Lake Champlain being 
compelled to run the gauntlet, by which he was nearly killed. But 
his Indian angel bound up his wounds, and nursed him to recovery. 
Subsequently he was ransomed by the governor of Canada, and 
after several years returned to Albany, married his original sweet- 
heart, and Uved to the good old age of eighty-three. 

ALBANY is the capital of the State of New York, and seat of the 
operating offices of the Delaware and Hudson Company. 

"O Albany, O Albany, 
Sweet is the tender melody 
Of thy old Latin name to me." 

— Monahan. 

It was first visited by French fur traders, who, following the 
discovery of the mouth of the Hudson River by Verrazano, in 
1524, made expeditions to the head of navigation for the purpose of 

[22] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

bartering with the Indians. About 1540 they began the construc- 
tion of a fortified trading post on Castle Island, which then stood 
on the east side of the river near Rensselaer, though it has since 
become a part of the mainland. The post was seriously injured by a 
freshet, however, and abandoned. Henry Hudson arrived in his 
Httle ship, the "Half-Moon," in 1609, and he was followed in 1615 by 
a party of Dutch traders, who rebuilt the old stone *' castle" of the 
French, on Castle Island, and named it Fort Nassau. It was well 
located to secure the traffic of the Iroquois. The falls of the Mohawk, 
near its mouth at Cohoes, made that river impassable for the canoes 
of the Indians, and accordingly a carry from the Mohawk at Schenec- 
tady ran overland to the Hudson at Albany. Thus Albany in the 
earhest times was the junction of the great routes of travel to the 
north and west, as it is today. Fort Nassau was damaged by high 
water in 1618 and was not restored. 

In 1624 the Dutch West India Company, which had been incor- 
porated in 1621 for the special purpose of trading in America, 
sent out thirty families, who built Fort Orange on the mainland 
where Albany now stands. Its site is now marked by a bronze 
tablet in Steamboat Square, just east of the bend in Broadway, 
upon which the following inscription appears: 

"Upon this spot, washed by the tide, stood the North East 
bastion of Fort Orange, erected about 1623. Here the powerful 
Iroquois met the deputies of this and other colonies in con- 
ference to estabUsh treaties. Here the first courts were held. 
Here in 1643, under the direction of Dominie Johannes Mega- 
polensis, a learned and estimable minister, the earliest church 
was erected North West of the fort, and to the South of it 
stood the dominie's house." 

Finding the sending of settlers too expensive, the Dutch West 
India Company in 1629 adopted the method of granting manorial 
rights, known as the Patroon System (q. v.). KiHaen Van Rensse- 
laer secured the first concession, purchased from the Mohawks a 
long tract upon the Hudson, including the present site of Albany, 
and began its colonization in 1630, naming it Rensselaer wyck. In 
1652 Pieter Stuyvesant named the district immediately surrounding 
Fort Orange "Dorpe Beverswyck" (Beaver District Village). In 
1664, upon the transfer of New Netherlands to the Enghsh, the 
name was changed to Albany. Nine years later, when the Dutch 
again obtained possession of the province, it was rechristened 
Willemstadt, but the following year, 1674, it passed back to the 
EngUsh and was again called Albany. 

[23] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

Albany was chartered as a city by Governor Dongan in 1686, the 
jfirst mayor being Peter Schuyler. (See Schuyler Family.) During 
the French and Indian War the city was a military storehouse and 
place of refuge, made secure by a fort and a stockade. The stockade 
took up a large section, reaching from the head of State Street, below 
the present Capitol, where about 1676 Fort Frederic (q. v.) was 
built, to the bank of the river, and from the site of the Union Depot 
as far south as a point near the present junction of South Pearl and 
Beaver Streets. Thus this old line of defence, which was completed 
in the spring of 1660, included nearly all the present business section 
of Albany. At no time, however, was it captured or even assaulted. 
Here, in 1754, was held the first General Continental Congress, com- 
missioners of seven colonies meeting to consider a plan of permanent 
union. In 1797 Albany was made the capital of the State, and as 
such a pohtical center of activity and importance. 

The celebration in 1886 of the bi-centennial of the city's incor- 
poration brought into prominence many events of historical interest, 
and also resulted in the erection of a number of bronze tablets at 
the more important points, on which much historical information 
is concisely and vividly recorded. A tablet in front of the Van 
Benthuysen Building on Broadway marks the site of the Southeast 
Gate in the old stockade. Here also stood the second City Hall, 
"in which the Congress of 1754 met and prepared a Union of the 
several Colonies for mutual defense and security. ... On this 
ground was the house where Uved Pieter Schuyler, the first and for 
eight successive years mayor of this city." A tablet on North Pearl 
Street, opposite the Delaware and Hudson Building, marks the 
Northwest Gate, and also the spot where Governor DeWitt CHnton, 
father of the Erie Canal, died on February 11, 1828. On the north- 
west corner of the Union Passenger Station a tablet commemorates 
the Northeast Gate. It bears the following inscription: 

"A little to the East of this spot stood the North East Gate 
of the city. Here it was that Symon Schermerhorn at five 
o'clock in the morning, 'Die Sabbithi,' February 9, 1690, after 
a hard ride by the way of Niskayuna in the intense cold and 
deep snow, shot in the thigh and his horse wounded, arrived 
with just enough strength to awaken the guard and alarm the 
people of Albany with the news 'Yt ye French and Indians 
have murthered ye people of Skinnechtady!' Symon's son 
and negroes were killed on that fatal night. Symon died in 
New York, 1696. To the north was the road to the Canadas. 
Through this gate passed many of the troops at various times 
rendezvoused at Albany. The remains of Lord Howe were 
brought back this way, and Burgoyne returned a prisoner." 
[241 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

After the lapse of more than two hundred and j5fty years since 
the building of the Northeast Gate, "the road to the Canadas" 
still leaves from this point. The log palisade is gone, and the wooden 
gate has crumbled to dust. In its place stands an impressive struc- 
ture of steel and stone, the Northeast Gate as of old, through which 
pass now in a single summer more vacationists bound for the his- 
toric country to the north than the number of all the armies that 
fought for its possession. 

On the southeast corner of State Street and South Pearl Street a 
tablet commemorates the site of the oldest building in Albany. 
Here Gen. Philip Schuyler was born, and also EUzabeth Schuyler, 
who became the wife of Alexander Hamilton. "Adjoining on the 
west was the famous Lewis Tavern. South Pearl Street was for- 
merly Washington Street, and was but twelve feet wide, having a 
gate at this place. This house was called the Staats House, and was 
more elaborately furnished than other houses of the time, being 
wainscoted and ornamented with tiles and carvings. It was the 
house of Mayor John Schuyler." Many other tablets are scattered 
in different parts of the city, testifying to the important position 
which Albany has always held in the affairs of the Colonies and of 
the nation. 

ALGONQUINS were a group of Indian tribes hving north of 
the St. Lawrence river when Champlain first entered its mouth. 
They were closely related to the Hurons and other tribes extending 
far into the northwest, and to the Mohicans, Pequots, Narragansetts, 
and other New England tribes, and to still others occupying a part 
of southeastern New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. 
They had long been at deadly war with the Iroquois (q. v.), of 
central New York, who were distinguished from the Algonquins 
and related tribes by a radical difference of language. Thus they 
allied themselves readily with the French in their campaigns against 
the Enghsh, as the Iroquois fought with the English against the 
French. Remnants of the Algonquin tribes are still to be found, 
mostly in the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. 

ALLEN, ETHAN, was one of the most picturesque heroes of 
the days of '76. "In 1766 he went to the then almost unsettled 
domain between the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain, where 
he was a bold leader of the settlers on the New Hampshire Grants 
in their bitter controversy with the authorities of New York. Dur- 
ing the controversy several pamphlets were written by Allen, in his 

125] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

peculiar style, which forcibly illustrated the injustice of the action 
of the New York authorities. The latter declared Allen an outlaw, 
and offered a reward of one hundred and fifty pounds for his arrest. 
He defied his enemies, and persisted in his course. Early in May, 
1775, he led a few men and took the fortress of Ticonderoga by 
surprise. His followers were called ' Green Mountain Boys.' His 
success as a partisan caused him to be sent twice into Canada during 
the latter half of 1775 to win the people over to the repubHcan 
cause. In the last of these expeditions he attempted, with Colonel 
Brown, to capture Montreal (Sept. 25, 1775), but was made a 
prisoner himself and sent to England in irons, whence, after a con- 
finement of some weeks, he was sent to Halifax. Five months 
later he was removed to New York. On the 6th of May, 1778, he 
was exchanged, after a captivity of about two years, for Colonel 
Campbell, and returned home, where he was received with joy and 
honors. He was invested with the chief command of the State 
militia. Congress immediately gave him the commission of heu- 
tenant-colonel in the Continental army. When, in the course of the 
war, Vermont assumed and maintained an independent position, a 
fruitless attempt was made by Beverly Robinson to bribe Allen to 
lend his support to a union of that province with Canada. He was 
supposed to be disaffected towards the revolted colonies, and he 
fostered that impression in order to secure the neutrahty of the 
British towards his Mountain State until the close of the war. As 
a member of the legislature of Vermont, and as a delegate in Con- 
gress, he secured the great object of his efforts — namely, the ulti- 
mate recognition of Vermont as an independent State. He removed 
to Bennington before the close of the war, thence to Arlington, and 
finally died in Burhngton." (fjossing^s ^'Cyclopaedia of U. S. His- 
tory.") His most memorable utterance, upon demanding the sur- 
render of Fort Ticonderoga (q. v.), "In the name of the Great 
Jehovah and the Continental Congress," has been otherwise 

reported, as "In the name of the Continental Congress, and by 

I'll have it." A more Hkely version is '^ Surrender, you old 

rat," quoted by one of his followers. 

ANTI-RENTISM grew out of an attempt to enforce certain 
provisions of the old Patroon (q.v.) System — Albany, Rensselaer and 
Delaware, among other counties, being greatly excited for a number 
of years following the death of the last of the patroons in 1839. 
Bands of men disguised as Indians tarred and feathered, and, in 
several instances, murdered officers of the law, and two men were 

[26] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

sentenced to death and twenty more to State prison, only to be 
pardoned by Governor Young, who was elected on the anti-rent issue. 
The matter was finally settled by the Constitutional Convention of 
1846, which adopted amendments definitely abohshing all feudal 
tenures, and forbidding leases of agricultural lands for a period of 
more than twelve years. A number of Cooper's novels, "Satanstoe," 
"The Chain-Bearer," "The Redskins," are concerned with the 
anti-rent issue. 

ARMORER'S ERRAND. Among the messengers sent out by 
Ethan AUen to collect forces for his attack on Ticonderoga was 
Maj. Gershom Beach, a blacksmith, who went on foot to Rutland, 
Pittsford, Brandon, Middlebury, Whiting and Shoreham, making 
a circuit of sixty miles in twenty-four hours. This is one of the 
remarkable episodes of the American Revolution, and one that has 
never received the recognition that it deserves. The ride of Paul 
Revere was a hoHday excursion compared with the journey of 
Gershom Beach. Every step had to be taken on foot "through a 
country practically without roads, an expanse of forest broken 
only at long intervals by a httle clearing. The messenger must 
chmb steep hills, thread his way through the valleys, avoid swamps, 
and cross unbridged streams. As night fell, still he must hold to a 
course not easily followed by dayhght, and pause to arouse each 
family from sleep." (Crockett.) Mrs. Juha C. R. Dorr, the Ver- 
mont poet, has written of the journey of Beach in a poem entitled 
"The Armorer's Errand": 

"Blacksmith and armorer stout was he. 
First in the fight and first in the breach. 
And first in the work where a man should be." 



"He threaded the valleys, he cUmbed the hills, 

He forded the rivers, he leaped the rills. 

While still to his call, like minute men, 

Booted and spurred, from mount and glen, 

The settlers rallied. But on he went. 

Like an arrow shot from a bow, unspent, 

Down the long vale of the Otter to where 

The might of the waterfall thundered in air; 

Then across to the lake, six leagues and more, 

Where Hand's Cove lay in the bending shore. 

The goal was reached. He dropped to the ground. 

In a deep ravine, without word or sound; 

And sleep, the restorer, bade him rest. 

Like a weary child, on the earth's brown breast." 

127] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

ARNOLD, BENEDICT, whose name is written in the history of 
America with letters of infamy, might well have been remembered 
as one of the nation's greatest patriots and benefactors. It seems 
evident, however, that the honorable part of his career in the Revo- 
lution is traceable more to personal bravery, to ambition, and to 
spontaneous reaction to the conditions in which he found himself, 
than to deep-rooted attachment to the cause of independence. His 
services to the country, nevertheless, were no less valuable on this 
account. He claimed to have conceived the idea of capturing 
Ticonderoga, and was commissioned a colonel by the Massachusetts 
Committee of Safety for the accomplishment of this object. Finding 
Ethan Allen and others already embarked upon a similar mission, 
he deferred to Allen and joined the expedition as a volunteer. Later 
he commanded an expedition against Quebec, which marched 
northward through the entire extent of the Maine wilderness, after 
which he went up Lake Champlain to Ticonderoga, where he was 
placed in command of a fleet on the lake. His engagement with the 
British under Carleton (see Battle of Valcour) was the first naval 
conflict with the mother country. He was largely responsible for 
the defeat of Burgoj^ne in the battle of Saratoga (q. v.), where he 
was severely wounded. After a reprimand by Washington, ordered 
by the Continental Congress because of fraudulent transactions 
while he was mihtary governor of Philadelphia, he plotted to betray 
the country, his plans being all but consummated at West Point in 
September, 1780. 

AUSABLE RIVER rises in Indian Pass but a short distance 
from the source of the Hudson, and takes its tumultuous course 
northward and eastward, passing near its mouth through a tre- 
mendous rocky chasm which has become world-famous as one of 
the natural wonders of this continent. It takes its name from its 
sandy bed near its mouth the French word for sand being sable. 



BAKER, CAPT. REMEMBER, one of the most prominent 
and daring leaders of the Green Mountain Boys, was killed by 
Indians near the mouth of the Lacolle River, a tributary of the 
Richelieu, while on scout service in connection with Montgomery's 
Expedition (q. v.) to Canada in August, 1775. He is said to have 
been the first American killed on Canadian soil during the Revolu- 
tionary War. A tablet to his memory has been erected on Isle 
La Motte. (See Commemorative Boulder on Isle La Motte.) 

[28] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

BAKER'S FALLS is the local name for the falls on the Hudson 
River at Hudson Falls, so named from Albert Baker, the first 
settler, who built a sawmill there in 1768. The fall from the crest 
of Richard's Dam to the foot of Baker's Falls is about eighty-five 
feet, making the water-power at Hudson Falls second only to Niagara 
Falls in the State of New York. 

BALLSTON SPA, although less widely known than Saratoga 
Springs, is really, of the two, the original resort. Hither (although 
some authorities claim it was the High Rock spring) in 1767 was 
brought by his Indian friends Sir William Johnson, when very ill, 
and here he quickly recovered his health, and returned to his home 
and Indian mistress in Johnstown. Ballston suffered a "northern 
invasion" in the fall of 1780, when Captain Munroe, formerly a 
trader in Schenectady, headed a detachment of Major Carleton's 
band of Tories and Mohawk Indians, devastating, plundering, and 
taking prisoners. (See Carleton's Raid.) 

BATTLE OF DIAMOND ISLAND. Following the capture of 
Ticonderoga by Burgoyne, in 1777 (see Burgoyne's Campaign), 
large quantities of suppUes were placed on Diamond Island in Lake 
George, under guard of two companies of the British. Here they 
were attacked by Colonels Brown and Warner of the American army 
on July 24th, but without success. Brown and Warner thereupon 
retired to the east side of the lake, burned their boats and retreated 
through the woods to Paulet, Vermont. 

BATTLE OF HUBBARDTON. Upon the evacuation of Fort 
Ticonderoga by the American troops in July, 1777 (see Burgoyne's 
Campaign), a portion of the American army, acting as a rear guard 
to St. Clair's retreating orces, took up a position at Hubbardton, 
where they were attacked by the British on the morning of the 8th. 
The British were held in check for some time, but receiving a rein- 
forcement of Hessian troops under Baron Riedesel, the Americans 
were obhged to give way. It is here that tradition credits Col. 
Seth Warner, who was in command, with shouting to his men, 
"Take to the woods, boys, and meet me at Manchester." They 
vanished from the sight of the astonished British and Hessians 
hke mist before the morning sun. 

BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN. One of the most important 
naval engagements of the War of 1812 was fought off the town of 
Plattsburg, September 11, 1814, between a British fleet under 

[29] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

Capt. George Downie and an American squadron under Commodore 
Thomas MacDonough. In August a British army of about 12,000 
under Sir George Prevost advanced along the western shore of the 
lake to Plattsburg, which was held by General Macomb with about 
1500 men, the object being to penetrate to the Hudson as Burgoyne 
had attempted to do in 1777. To effect this movement it was 
necessary to dispose of the American fleet, consisting of fourteen 
vessels of all classes, carrying 86 guns and 850 men. 

Anticipating the arrival of the British, MacDonough had extended 
his fleet across the entrance of Cumberland Bay, from Crab Island 
on the south to near Cumberland Head on the north. They were 
all at anchor, this being the one naval battle of consequence in which 
the vessels of either side remained at anchor during the entire engage- 
ment. MacDonough, however, had taken the precaution to drop 
auxiUary anchors astern of each ship, with cables running to their 
bows, by which they could be readily swung around. It was this 
brilliant maneuver which decided the action. When the British 
appeared around Cumberland Head, MacDonough assembled the 
crew of his flagship on the quarter-deck, where he knelt and com- 
mended his men, his cause and himself to the Leader of Hosts. The 
British fleet consisted of sixteen vessels, carrying 95 guns and 937 
men. Fire was opened by the Americans, but not returned until the 
British flagship, the "Confiance," had reached a position opposite the 
head of the American column. Both fleets were then anchored in 
long lines, parallel to each other. The first broadside of the "Con- 
fiance' ' killed or wounded forty men on the ''Saratoga," MacDonough's 
flagship — nearly one-fifth of her force. The engagement at once 
became general. On the "Saratoga" a hencoop was shot away and a 
rooster, released, flew into the rigging, where he remained flapping 
his wings and crowing until the action ceased. Within an hour the 
starboard battery of the "Saratoga" was disabled, whereupon the cable 
to her auxiliary anchor was manned and the ship swung around 
until her port battery was brought to bear upon the "Confiance." 
The remainder of the fleet executed the same maneuver and raked the 
British vessels with galling effect. Captain Downie of the "Confiance" 
was killed, and all of the ships in the British squadron were so badly 
shot to pieces that they were in a sinking condition. After two and 
a half hours of this desperate fighting the British flag was struck. 
The Americans, however, were in no condition to press their victory 
further. Not a mast in either fleet was fit to carry sail. The British 
finally managed to limp off, while the Americans remained at anchor. 

[30] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

Immediately upon the cessation of the battle, the land attack of the 
British, which had begun with the appearance of the fleet around 
Cumberland Head, was abandoned. (See Plattsburg.) Thus ended 
the second attempt of the British arms to control the Champlain 
VaUey. 

The soldiers and sailors of both fleets who were killed in the fight 
were later buried on Crab Island (q. v.), where a monument has been 
erected to their memory. In the Plattsburg cemetery, across the 
bay. Captain Downie and the British and American officers who fell 
with him were interred, where, after the lapse of a hundred years, 
lie friend and foe alike, a flag with the emblem of the Grand Army 
of the Republic marking the graves of each. 

The British loss was about two hundred, including prisoners; 
the killed and wounded Americans numbering one hundred and 
twelve. The British lost all but twenty of the ninety-five guns they 
brought into action. During most of the fight MacDonough pointed 
a favorite gun, and was twice knocked senseless. For his services 
he was made captain, received a gold medal from Congress, and was 
presented by the legislature of Vermont with an estate on Cumber- 
land Head, overlooking the scene of the engagement. At the time 
of the action his official rank was that of master commandant, though 
he was then popularly called commodore. It was not until later 
that he was regularly commissioned a commodore in the navy. 

The last eye-witness of the Battle of Lake Champlain was prob- 
ably Benajah Phelps, v/ho died in Colorado Springs, November 25, 
1903, at the age of one hundred and three. His story of the engage- 
ment, as related to J. E. Tuttle, was printed in the Outlook for 
November 2, 1901. 

BATTLE OF LAKE GEORGE was fought September 8, 1755, 
in three distinct engagements. Baron Dieskau, in command of six 
hundred Indians, as many Canadians, and two hundred French 
regulars, ascended Lake Champlain intending to attack Fort Lyman, 
afterwards Fort Edward (q. v.), but for some reason turned towards 
Lake George, where Gen. Sir Wilham Johnson's army of colonists on 
an expedition for the capture of Crown Point were encamped. In 
the vicinity of the present WilHams Monument (q. v.), the French 
surprised and engaged 1,000 New England miUtia, under Colonel 
Williams, and their allies, two hundred Mohawks. Colonel Williams 
was killed and his men put to flight. As they retreated towards the 
lake three hundred were sent out to succor them, and the fighting 

[31] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

was resumed near the English camp; General Johnson being in com- 
mand till wounded, when Gen. Phinehas Lyman succeeded him. The 
savage aUies of the French were inchned to skulk, the Canadians 
were frightened, and Dieskau's regulars had to bear the brunt of the 
battle. Nearly all of them were killed, and Dieskau was wounded 
and taken prisoner. The same day at sunset a party of French, 
who had halted at Bloody Pond, were surprised and routed by a 
detachment from Fort Lyman with such results as gave this bit 
of water its sanguinary name. In all, the casualties of the day were, 
of the French, nearly four hundred; of the Enghsh, two hundred 
and sixty-two. For this victory General Johnson received the thanks 
of Parhament, and was voted five thousand pounds and created a 
baronet, but General Lyman was not mentioned in the report, and 
received no honors. 

The battle monument, erected in 1903, stands in the State reserva- 
tion of thirty-five acres, at the head of the lake. 

BATTLE OF LACOLLE was an indecisive engagement between 
the Americans and British, fought at LacoUe, north of Plattsburg, 
March 30, 1814. It was one of the preliminaries in the defence of 
the Champlain Valley against the southward advance of the British. 
(See Plattsburg and Battle of Lake Champlain.) 

BATTLE OF SARATOGA. Two important battles of the 
Revolution are known by this name, because fought on nearly the 
same ground and by practically the same forces; the one September 
19, the other October 7, 1777. The first is also known as the 
battle of Freeman's Farm, first battle of Stillwater, and first battle 
of Bemis Heights; the second also as that of Bemis Heights and of 
Stillwater. The first, in which each side lost from six hundred to 
one thousand, was indecisive; the second was followed ten days 
later by the surrender of Burg03Tie and his army. (See Burg03^e's 
Campaign.) 

At Bemis Heights, nine miles south of old Saratoga, now Schuyler- 
ville, Burgoyne encountered the entrenched Americans under Gates, 
and September 19th attempted to turn their left. In this, after 
two hours' desperate fighting, he was frustrated by Gen. Benedict 
Arnold, assisted by Gen. Dan Morgan, and would then, perhaps, 
have been disastrously defeated had Arnold been properly sup- 
ported. This not being done, a quarrel arose between Gates and 
Arnold, and the latter asked and received permission to return to 
Philadelphia. He finally yielded, however, to the wishes of many 

[321 




GRAVE OF CAPTAIN DOWNIE AND BRITISH AND AMERICAN OFFICERS WHO 
FELL IN BATTLES OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN AND PLATTSBURG 




MONUMENT ON CRAB ISLAND TO THE SOLDIERS AND SAILORS WHO FELL IN 
BATTLES OF PLATTSBURG AND LAKE CHAMPLAIN 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

officers, who knowing a decisive battle was imminent, and having no 
confidence in Gates, begged him to remain. At the decisive moment, 
on October 7th, he rushed upon the field without orders, and together 
with Gen. Dan Morgan (q. v.) and Gen. Enoch Poor (q. v.), in a 
series of magnificent charges, broke through the enemy's lines, 
putting them to flight and winning the victory. Just at the close 
of the battle Arnold was severely wounded and was taken on a 
litter to Albany, where he remained disabled till the following 
spring. 

During the night Burgoyne retreated and took up a strong posi- 
tion about twelve miles from Saratoga Springs (at SchuylerviUe), 
where, entirely surrounded, his supplies cut off, with no hope of 
rehef, which he had expected from the south and west, and the 
American army every day growing stronger, he surrendered to 
General Gates on October 17th. The victory roused the wildest 
enthusiasm throughout the country, and was the determining event 
that led France to her aUiance with the United States. (See Saratoga 
Battle Monument.) 

"We are told that, during more than twenty centuries of war and 
bloodshed, only fifteen battles have been decisive of lasting results. 
The contest of Saratoga is one of these. From the battle of Marathon 
to the field of Waterloo, a period of more than 2,000 years, there was 
no martial event which had greater influence than that which took 
place on the battlefield of Saratoga." — Horatio Seymour. 

BATTLE ON SNOWSHOES is one of the inexact designations 
which has often been appHed to the engagement between Rogers's 
rangers and the French on March 13, 1758. It was one of the 
brushes which the uncompromising outposts of the British army, 
the backwoodsmen of the ranger corps, were continually having, 
which had no decisive results whatever save as a check to French 
raids, and which are worth recording and treasuring in memory 
simply because of the indomitable determination with which they 
were carried through. On this particular occasion Rogers had been 
dispatched with one hundred and eighty men to attack a French 
outpost at Ticonderoga. He proceeded up Lake George to near 
the vicinity of the mountain which now bears his name, where he 
crossed over to the western side of the range and marched his men 
down Trout Brook. He observed every precaution in his advance 
and kept a portion of his men in the rear as a reserve. The French, 
however, had warning of his approach, and instead of encountering 

[33] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

an outpost, he met first a small detachment and was immediately 
thereafter attacked by a force of upward of six hundred. In the 
pitched battle which ensued, ninety-nine of Rogers's Httle command 
were killed, or more than one-haK, and many others were wounded. 
The details of this fight in the deep snow and bitter cold, as drawn 
from Rogers's own report in his private journal, afford one of the 
most vivid pictures of the desperate fighting of the times of which 
we have record. 

"Rogers retreated with the remainder of his party in the best 
manner possible. Several men, who were wounded and fatigued, 
were taken by the savages who pursued his retreat. He reached 
Lake George in the evening, where he was joined by several wounded 
men. From this place an express was dispatched to Colonel Haviland for 
assistance to bring in the wounded. The party passed the night with- 
out fire or blankets, which were lost with their knapsacks. The 
night was extremely cold, and the wounded suffered much pain, 
but behaved in a manner consistent with their conduct in the action. 

"In the morning the party proceeded up the lake, and at Hoop 
Island met Capt. John Stark bringing to their relief provisions, 
blankets and sleighs. They encamped on the island, and passed 
the night with good fires. On the evening of March 15th they 
arrived at Fort Edward." — Caleb Stark. 

BATTLE OF VALCOUR. The first naval conflict between 
Great Britain and the Colonies was fought off the southwestern 
shore of Valcour Island in Lake Champlain on October 11, 1776. 
The American fleet under Benedict Arnold consisted of one sloop, 
two schooners, four galleys and eight gondolas. Preparatory to an 
attempt to seize Fort Ticonderoga and gain command of the lake, 
the British had built a fleet at St. Johns, on the Richelieu River, 
which was far superior, consisting of twenty-nine vessels in all. 
Arnold had taken up a position between Valcour Island and the 
mainland. The British wore around the southern end of the island 
in the face of a heavy wind and engaged first the "Royal Savage," 
Arnold's flagship, which had advanced to meet them. Finding the 
fire too heavy, Arnold attempted to return to the Hne, but his vessel 
grounded on Valcour Island and was abandoned. The remains of 
the hull are still to be seen, when the water is clear, but a short 
distance from the shore. The battle continued all day, the heavy 
wind from the northwest making it difficult for the English vessels 
to work within range. Under cover of darkness and storm Arnold 

[34] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN fflSTORY 

slipped through their lines, which had been extended to hold him, 
and set sail for Crown Point. The next day, October 12th, he re- 
paired some of his vessels in the shelter of Schuyler Island, and it is 
a tradition of the lake that while lying there he dressed his masts 
with green boughs to escape detection. A number of his vessels 
had sunk or gone aground, but setting sail for Crown Point with 
those that were left he was overtaken by Captain Pringle on the 
13th, and a running fight ensued, as a result of which Arnold finally 
ran the remainder of his fleet ashore in what is now Arnold Bay, 
and after setting the ships on fire retreated through the woods to 
Crown Point. The British, although victorious in this battle, were 
so discouraged at their losses that they retired to Montreal for the 
winter. Thus Arnold by his bravery and skill set back the Enghsh 
invasion of the Champlain Valley for a full year. 

BATTLE OF WILTON. Following the expedition of MaJ. 
Peter Schuyler in 1691 against the French settlement of La Prairie 
(q. v.), Count Frontenac determined to strike a blow in retahation 
upon the Mohawk Indians who had assisted in the attack. ^' Accord- 
ingly, in January, 1693, he sent a force of six hundred and twenty-five 
men, including Indians, who passed down over the old trail that led 
from Lake George to the bend of the Hudson above Glens Falls, 
and from thence through Wilton, Greenfield, and along the brow 
of the Kay-ad-ros-se-ra range to the Mohawk castles. On its return 
march over this trail, the war party was followed by Maj. Peter 
Schuyler and his forces, who overtook it in the town of Greenfield, 
or Wilton, Saratoga county. Near the old Indian Pass over the 
Palmerstown range, on the border of Wilton, almost, if not quite, 
in sight of Saratoga Springs, in the month of February, 1693, a 
battle was fought, or rather a series of engagements took place, in 
which the French loss amounted in all to thirty-three killed and 
twenty-six wounded. At the conclusion of the fight the French 
retreated towards the Hudson. It had been thawing and the ice 
was floating in the river. When the French arrived on its banks 
a large cake of ice had lodged in the bend of the stream. The French 
crossed over on this cake of ice in safety, but before their pursuers 
came up it had floated away, leaving them no means of crossing, 
and the chase was relinquished." — Sylvester. 

BETTYS, JOSEPH, a native of Saratoga county, was among 
those taken prisoner by the British at the naval battle on Lake 
Champlain, October 13, 1776 (see Battle of Valcour), and joined 

[35] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

the royal standard, becoming a spy. He was once saved from the 
gallows by Washington, who listened to the intercession of the spy's 
aged parents, on his promis6 to be loyal. But he rejoined the enemy, 
and for a long time his cold-blooded mm:ders. his plundering and his 
incendiarism made him a terror to the whole region about Albany, 
till, in 1782, he was caught and hanged in that city as a spy and 
a traitor. 

BLACK WATCH MEMORIAL is a Library and Historical 
Building in Ticonderoga Village, and is unique as a memorial in a 
Yankee village to a British Regiment. The Black Watch, "black" 
from its somber tartan, and "watch" because formed to keep order 
in the Highlands, otherwise known as the 42d Royal Highlanders, 
is the oldest Highland Regiment in the British Army It was em- 
bodied in 1739 from independent companies, and no British Regiment 
has a more honorable record for distinguished service performed 
in every part of the globe. It sustained a loss of seven officers and 
three hundred and six rank and file killed, and seventeen officers and 
three hundred and sixteen rank and file wounded, out of a total 
strength of one thousand engaged in the desperate assault on the 
French lines at Fort Ticonderoga, July 8, 1758. (See Abercrombie's 
Expedition.) The extent of this casualty can be better comprehended 
when it is realized that it is twice as high a percentage as the loss of 
the Light Brigade at Balaklava, immortalized by Tennyson. The 
Black Watch assisted in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga by Amherst 
in 1759. A Bronze Tablet in the reading room of the Memorial 
Building was presented in 1906 by the officers of the regiment and 
unveiled by Maj. D. L. Wilson Farquharson, who came from 
Scotland to make the presentation. 

BLOODY MORNING SCOUT. Gen. Sir William Johnson, 
while in camp at the head of Lake George, close to the present site 
of Fort WiUiam Henry Hotel, learned that Dieskau had left Ticon- 
deroga and was advancing with a strong party towards Fort Edward. 
He thereupon sent Col. Ephraim Williams with reinforcements 
towards the fort. They were ambushed en route by Dieskau and 
driven back. Fighting continued through the day, at the end of 
which the French were routed. Much of it occurred near a small 
pond south of Fort William Henry Hotel, from which it received its 
name of Bloody Pond, and the engagement in which Williams was 
killed that of the Bloody Morning Scout. (See Battle of Lake 
George.) 

1361 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 



■/nve Boad . ^ FrcTtclv & Indians, 

JSendrick- orv Sbrseback^. ■i-J'rovincials, 

S 3fohaH'k.s. 







BLOODY MORNING SCOUT 
(From an Old Print) 



[37] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

BOULDER TO THE HEROES OP THE FOUR NATIONS is 

a boulder in Academy Park at Ticonderoga Village, erected by the 
late Joseph Cook as a memorial to the Indian, French, English and 
American heroes who fought at Ticonderoga. The bones which 
were found interred with the Lord Howe Stone are buried under 
this boulder. (See Howe, Lord George Augustus.) 

BRANT, JOSEPH (Thayendanegea), the Mohawk chief, a 
prot6g6, when young, of Sir WiUiam Johnson, was present with him 
at the Battle of Lake George (q. v.) when only 13 years old. Dur- 
ing the Revolution he was active against the Americans. After the 
war, however, his influence with the Indians was for peace, and in 
later years he raised funds to build the First Episcopal Church in 
Upper Canada, and translated into Mohawk the Book of Common 
Prayer. He died at the age of 65, and in 1886, at Brantford, Ontario, 
a monument was erected to his memory. John Fiske says: "He was, 
perhaps, the greatest Indian of whom we have any knowledge." 

BROWN, JOHN, is buried at North Elba, in the Adirondacks, 
a short distance from Lake Placid, on a plot of ground which the 
old aboHtionist chose for the northern terminus of his "underground 
railroad" and as a colony for runaway slaves. It was his home for 
ten years. Some ten years after his burial there, the farm, which 
was about to be sold under foreclosure, was redeemed, largely 
through the efforts of Kate Field, and, in 1896, transferred to the 
State of New York, the gift being formally accepted. A monument 
was unveiled there July 21, 1896. The grave is near a great boulder 
which Kate Field said "looked as if it ivere cast for the purpose 
from God Almighty's foundry." On it, in 1866, was carved the 
inscription, 

JOHN BROWN 
1859 

At the head of the grave is an old-fashioned stone originally 
erected to the memory of Brown's grandfather, Capt. John Brown, a 
Revolutionary soldier. Under the first inscription are the lines : "John 
Brown, born May 9, 1800, was executed at Charleston, Va., Decem- 
ber 2, 1859." It bears also the names of his three sons, Frederick, 
killed at Ossawatomie, and OHver and Watson, killed at Harper's 
Ferry. The bodies of Frederick and OHver have never been recov- 
ered; but the bones of Watson, after being used for twenty years 
as an anatomical specimen in a Southern hospital, were bought by a 
physician and restored to the family. 

1381 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

The tune to which "John Brown's Body," the northern war song 
of the great fratricidal conflict, was sung was originally an old 
Methodist revival air, and the words appear to have been formu- 
lated one evening in May, 1861, by a company of recruits quartered 
at Fort Warren, Boston harbor. It was more by chance than other- 
wise, and referred in the first instance to a recruit by the name of 
Brown, who was made sport of. The boys began singing and march- 
ing to the refrain, and that night the bandmaster, P. S. Gilmore, 
arranged the music for his fuU band, and the next day it was played 
at dress parade. The following day. May 25, 1861, it was heard in 
pubhc, as the soldiers, headed by the band, marched through the 
streets of Boston. Later, the same year, Julia Ward Howe wrote her 
"Battle Hymn of the RepubHc," which was sung to the same tune, 
but interfered not a whit with the popularity of the old refrain, 
"John Brown^s body lies a-mouldering in the grave, 
But his soul is marching on." 

BURGOYNE'S CAMPAIGN, as stated elsewhere (see Hud- 
son River), was undertaken in accordance with a plan to cut the 
colonies in two by the advance of General CHnton up the Hudson and 
of General Burgoyne from Montreal southward to Albany. The first 
event of importance was the re-taking of Fort Ticonderoga, which 
was accomphshed on July 6, 1777, when General St. Clair withdrew 
with his garrison. Crown Point had aheady been evacuated with- 
out resistance. Burgoyne thereupon continued his advance toward 
Fort Edward, going by way of Wood Creek and the Great Carrying 
Place, rather than the easier route over Lake George. His progress 
was continually obstructed by the Colonial troops, who felled trees 
in his way and harassed his forces in every possible manner. It is 
said in Ramsey's "American Revolution" that it was by Skene's 
advice (see Whitehall) that Burg05nie made the fatal mistake of 
taking this course, and that his advice was given solely to enable 
the wily Skene to have a good road cut out for him to the lower 
settlements. 

At the battles of Saratoga (q. v.), known also as the battles of 
Bemis Heights and Freeman's Farm, he met defeat, until his sur- 
render was finally forced on October 17th. It is related that after 
the surrender at Saratoga Burgoyne was entertained with so much 
grace and hospitahty at the Schuyler mansion in Albany that he 
was affected to tears, exclaiming, "Indeed, this is doing too much 
for the man who has ravaged their lands and destroyed their dwell- 

[391 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

ings," having in mind, no doubt, the rather disquieting reflection 
that only a few weeks before, by his command, the mills and mansion 
of General Schuyler, at Saratoga, had been burned to the ground. 

Creasy, the English historian, said of this campaign: *' With- 
out question the plan was ably formed, and had the success of the 
execution been equal to the ingenuity of the design, the reconquest 
or submission of the thirteen United States must in all human proba- 
bility have followed, and the independence which they proclaimed 
in 1776 would have been extinguished before it existed a second 
year." 

BURR, AARON, was at different times a resident of Albany. 
He began the practice of law there in 1782, soon after his marriage 
to the Widow Prevost, and there his beloved daughter Theodosia 
was married. Still later in life (1824), after his duel with Hamilton, 
the failure of his scheme to become Emperor of Mexico, his trial 
for treason, and his return from exile, he resided in the house now 
occupied by the Fort Orange Club, on Washington Avenue. 



CAMPBELL, MAJOR DUNCAN. In the Union Cemetery 
between Fort Edward and Hudson Falls is a gravestone with 
the following inscription: 

"Here lyes the Body of Duncan Campbell of Inverawe, Esq., 
Major of the Highland Regiment, aged 55 years, who died the 17th 
of July, 1758, of the wounds he received in the attack of the Retrench- 
ment of Ticonderoga, or Carillon, on the 8th of July, 1758." 

In " Legendary Tales of the Highlands," by Sir Thomas Dick Lau- 
der, it is related at considerable length that this same Duncan Camp- 
bell had once given shelter, at Inverawe, to a stranger who came to 
him besmeared with blood, said that he had killed a man, and that 
pursuers were on his track, and begged for shelter. This Campbell, 
through pity, promised, and swore it on his dirk. Later it appeared 
that the murdered man was Campbell's own cousin, but he kept 
his oath; whereupon that night he saw the ghost of the murdered 
cousin, who pronounced in sepulchral tones the words: "Inverawe, 
Inverawe, blood has been shed. Shield not the murderer!" Still 
he would not give up the man whom he had sworn on his dirk to 
harbor, but took him to a cave, from whence he subsequently 
escaped. Then the ghost appeared again and exclaimed: "Farewell, 
Inverawe, till we meet at Ticonderoga!" a name and place of which 
Inverawe had never before heard. Subsequently he came to America 

[40] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

as major of the 42d regiment (see Black Watch Memorial), and 
in due time learned to his consternation that the army was to attack 
a fort so called. His spirits fell at once. Nothing could convince 
him that his earthly end was not at hand. His brother officers 
knew how he felt, and on the way down the lake (see Abercrombie's 
Expedition) conspired together to call the point of their attack 
Fort George. But on the morning of the battle he said to them: 
"You have deceived me. It is not Fort George; it is Ticonderoga. 
He came to my tent last night and I shall die today." He was 
mortally wounded in the attack and died ten days later. 

Robert Louis Stevenson (q. v.) has given permanent literary 
embodiment to this old legend in his ballad of Ticonderoga, naming 
the chief actor Cameron, however, rather than Campbell, a poetic 
hcense which he justified in a note to the ballad: "Two clans, the 
Camerons and the Campbells, lay claim to this bracing story; and 
they do well: the man who preferred his pUghted troth to the 
commands and menaces of the dead is an ancestor worth disputing. 
But the Campbells must rest content; they have the broad lands 
and the broad page of history; this appanage must be denied them; 
for between the name of Cameron and that of Campbell, the muse 
will never hesitate." 

The Cameron in the ballad went seeking the place of the name 
throughout all Scotland, and then having joined the celebrated 
Black Watch regiment, continued his inquiries wherever that fighting 
organization went. It was not until they had encamped before 
Carillon, on Abercrombie's Expedition, that its unmistakable 
accents fell upon his ears. 

And it fell on the morrow's morning, 

In the fiercest of the fight, 
That the Cameron bit the dust 

As he foretold at night; 
And far from the hills of heather, 

Far from the isles of the sea, 
He sleeps in the place of the name 

As it was doomed to be. 

CARIGNAN-SALIERES was a veteran French regiment, brought 
to America by the Marquis de Tracy, Viceroy of Canada, in 1664. 
It was largely instrumental in first opening Lake Champlain to the 
French and in subduing the Iroquois, for which purposes it built 
and garrisoned a string of forts. Many of the French names from 
Montreal south thi'ough Lake Champlain attest the exploits of its 

[41] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

adventure-loving ofiicers. (See Fort Chambly, Chazy River, Sorel, 
Mothe, Fort Richelieu, Fort St. Anne, Fort St. Theresa.) 

CARILLON, the French name for Ticonderoga, was so given 
because the rapids near by sounded like the musical peal of bells. 
(See Fort Ticonderoga.) 

CARLETON'S PRIZE. On the morning of October 13, 1776, 
after the fleet commanded by Benedict Arnold had escaped from the 
British and was proceeding toward Crown Point, the EngHsh, under 
Carleton, mistook a rock near Providence Island for one of the 
American vessels and fired upon it. It has since been known as 
Carleton's Prize. (See Battle of Valcour.) 

CARLETON'S RAID. Carleton's raid was undertaken in the 
autumn of 1780 in accordance with the poHcy of the British to 
harass and devastate the colonies at every possible point. Major 
Carleton, with a considerable force of regulars, Tories and Indians, 
set out from Canada and proceeded up Lake Champlain to Crown 
Point and Ticonderoga. He captured and burned Fort Anne, and 
sent out marauding parties in the direction of Fort Edward. He 
marched across country to the head of Lake George, took possession 
of Fort George, and captured and burned Fort Amherst, which stood 
near Half-Way Brook (q. v.) just outside the city of Glens Falls. A 
portion of Carleton's forces had been dispatched to advance through 
the wilderness and attack Schenectady, but they contented them- 
selves with devastating the settlement at Ballston. 

CHAMPLAIN, SAMUEL DE, was born at Brouage, France, in 
1567, and died at Montreal, December 25, 1635. He came of a long 
line of fishermen and mariners and had been educated as a navigator. 
He had served in the army of France, and was accordingly well 
fitted by his training and experience for the Hfe of scientific explora- 
tion and adventure which he led in the new world. Prior to his 
discovery of the lake which bears his name, he had made several 
voyages to Canada, the first in 1603, when he was commissioned 
lieutenant-general of the new province by Henry IV. In 1604 
he came again and landed in Nova Scotia, planning a settle- 
ment and exploring the neighboring territory. In 1607 he returned 
to France, to come back again in 1608 for the purpose of founding 
a permanent settlement on the St. Lawrence. He had thus had 
ample opportunity to learn of the great lake to the south before he 
embarked with his savage allies, the Montagnais, the Hurons and 

[42] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

Algonquins, in 1609, for its exploration. It was on the morning of 
July 4, 1609, that he emerged from the Richelieu River into the 
larger waters of the lake. He was at once entranced with the 
country, which he said consisted of ^'many pretty hills, low, and 
containing very fine woods and meadows." There were also "many 
rivers flowing into the lake bordered by many fine trees of the same 
kind as those we have in France, with many vines, finer than any 
I have seen in any other place." 

Towards the lower end of the lake the party encountered a band 
of Iroquois, to fight whom was, in the minds of the Indians, the 
chief purpose of the expedition. Here, on the morning of July 30, 
1609, the Iroquois had their first bitter experience with the white 
man's gun. The site of the battle was on the lake shore, but a 
short distance north of Fort Ticonderoga. The Iroquois became 
panic-stricken, and were hopelessly beaten; but the memory of that 
defeat filled them through the generations that followed with the 
most undying hatred of the French, and resulted in atrocities which 
kept the settlements on the St. Lawrence in constant terror. 

Champlain returned to France, but made another trip to the 
St. Lawrence in 1610. In 1612 he was again sent to Canada as 
Lieutenant-Governor, and from that time until his death, with short 
intermissions, he was actively engaged in nurturing the infant 
province through the precarious stages of its early growth. His 
work is well commemorated on the lake by the beautiful Champlain 
Memorial at Crown Point and the Champlain Monument which 
looks out over the bay at Plattsburg. A small but excellent monu- 
ment also stands in the village of Champlain, a short distance west 
of Rouse's Point, while a larger and imposing statue has been 
erected in Quebec. 

Set into the front of the memorial at Crown Point is a bronze 
tablet with the following inscription: 

1609 To the Memory of 1909 

SAMUEL CHAMPLAIN 

INTREPID NAVIGATOR 

SCHOLARLY EXPLORER 

CHRISTIAN PIONEER 

Erected by the State of New York and the State of Vermont 
In commemoration of his discovery of the Lake which bears his name 

Surmounting this tablet is a beautiful tablet bust of La 
France, by Rodin, which was presented to the United States 

[43] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

by the people of France, and unveiled in May, 1912. The 
delegation present at the ceremony of the unveiling was in all 
probability the most distinguished assemblage of Frenchmen ever 
brought together on 'this continent, consisting of Ambassador J. J. 
Jusserand, M. Gabriel Hanotaux, Marquis de Chambrun, MM. Ren6 
Bazin, Etienne Lamy, and Fernand Cormon, Mile. Cormon, Count 
and Countess de Rochambeau, M. Louis Barthou, Baron d'Estour- 
nelles de Constant, General Lebon, MM. Vidal de Lablache, Due 
de Choiseul, MM. L6on Barthou, J. Dal Piaz Girard, Mile. Girard, 
MM. Gabriel Louis Jaray, E. Lanel, Louis Bleriot and Madame 
Bleriot, and M. Gaston Deschamps. 

CHAMPLAIN TERCENTENARY CELEBRATION, in com- 
memoration of the three hundredth anniversary of the discovery 
of the lake, was held at various points along the lake from July 4 
to 10, 1909. It included a general observance of Champlain 
Sunday, July 4th, in most of the churches bordering the lake and 
elsewhere in New York and Vermont; a sham battle, pageants and 
exercises at the Crown Point forts on July 5th; a sham battle, 
pageants and exercises at Ticonderoga on the 6th; and parades, 
exercises and pageants on successive days thereafter at Plattsburg, 
Burlington, Isle La Motte, and Rouse's Point. 

The Celebration was under the joint direction of the Lake Cham- 
plain Tercentenary Commissions of the States of New York and 
Vermont. The Government of the United States rendered valuable 
co-operation, and official representation by France, Great Britain 
and Canada contributed in large measure to the success of the cere- 
monies. The two beautiful and permanent memorials to Champlain 
at Plattsburg and Crown Point were erected by the New York State 
Commission, the Vermont Commission co-operating in the one at 
Crown Point. The memorial at Crown Point is specially noteworthy 
because of the bust of La France, by Rodin, which was presented 
by the people of France. (See Champlain, Samuel de.) Through 
the attendance at the ceremonies of President Taft and the dis- 
tinguished officials of all of the countries whose troops participated 
in the campaigns in the Champlain Valley, the Celebration thus 
acquired a far deeper significance than that of mere national self- 
felicitation. 

The Dominion of Canada sent over the Governor-General's Foot- 
Guards and the Fifth Royal Canadian Highlanders, whose briUiant 
uniforms and faultless maneuvers added color and impressiveness 
to the Celebration. 

[441 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

His Excellency, J. J. Jusserand, French Ambassador to the 
United States, was the official representative of France, while the 
Right Honorable James Bryce, British Ambassador, appeared for 
Great Britain. The Canadian officials present were the Honorable 
Rodolphe Lemicux, Postmaster-General of the Dominion of Canada ; 
Sir Lomer Gouin, Premier of the Province of Quebec; and Sir Adolphe 
Pelletier, Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Quebec. The 
attendance of these officials, as well as of others from other 
countries, brought wide comment in the press of the entire 
world and contributed largely to the general recognition of the 
ceremonies, both here and abroad, as one of the most important 
commemorative celebrations of the century. 

CHAMPLAIN TRANSPORTATION COMPANY, the oldest 
steamboat company in the world in operation today, has been a 
continuous carrier on the picturesque highway of the lake for 
nearly a hundred years, although it was not always operated under 
the same name. The first steamer on the lake was the "Vermont," 
built in 1808, the year following Fulton's memorable sail up the 
Hudson. She made her first regular trip in June, 1809, and was 
thus the second steamboat in the world to be put into successful 
operation. She was twenty feet longer than the "Clermont," and was 
of a hundred and sixty-seven tons burden, with an engine of twenty 
horse-power. In pleasant weather her speed was five miles an 
hour, but at other times she was readily passed by the sloops of the 
lake, which still carried the bulk of the traffic. She was, neverthe- 
less, a decided success, in spite of much ridicule from the saiUng 
craft. She was scheduled to leave St. Johns at eight o'clock every 
Saturday morning, to pass Cumberland Head about five in the 
afternoon, and to arrive at Burlington the following morning, 
which she left at nine A. M., arriving at Whitehall at twelve o'clock 
Sunday night. Her scheduled time from St. Johns to Whitehall 
was thus thirty-nine hours, though she seldom kept to it on account 
of accidents to her machinery and adverse winds. Passengers were 
warned that the time might vary a few hours according to the 
weather and were advised to be on hand at least two hours ahead 
of the schedule. The "Vermont" had two cabins, one for ladies, which 
accommodated twelve, and one for gentlemen, with room for twice 
as many. Servants were required to sleep on the floor, and it was a 
rule of the boat that passengers were entitled to entrance to the 
washroom in the order in which they paid their fare, no one to 
remain longer than ten minutes. In October, 1815, the "Vermont" 

[45] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

was wrecked near Isle aux Noix, her connecting rod becoming 
detached and knocking a hole in her bottom. Two years before this, 
however, she had satisfied several enterprising men of the feasibility 
of steam navigation on Lake Champlain, and they had obtained a 
charter from the New York Legislature in 1813 for the Lake Cham- 
plain Steamboat Company. They began work on a steamer in the 
winter of 1813-14, at Vergennes, on Otter Creek, but before it could 
be completed it was taken over by Commodore MacDonough, to 
form one of the fleet of warships which contested the right of the 
lake with the British at the battle of Lake Champlain (q. v.). He 
called it the "Ticonderoga," a name which the latest steamer of the 
company has now worthily perpetuated. In 1814 the keel of another 
steamboat, the "Phoenix," was laid, and in 1815 she began regular 
trips between Whitehall and St. Johns. In 1833 the Lake Cham- 
plain Steamboat Company was consoUdated with the Champlain 
Transportation Company, a corporation chartered by the State of 
Vermont. Since that date a long list of steamers bearing names 
well known in the annals of American inland shipping have phed 
the waters of the lake without interruption. 

CHAZY RIVER was so named from the fact that a captain of the 
Carignan-SaHeres (q. v.) regiment, de Chasy, and several com- 
panions were killed near its mouth by a party of Iroquois in 1666. 

CHERRY VALLEY MASSACRE occurred in 1778 at the httle 
village of the same name, when sixteen hundred Indians and two 
hundred Tories under Maj. Walter Butler of the British army fell 
upon it unawares. Sixteen of the garrison and thirty inhabitants, 
including women and children, were killed, and seventy-one persona 
were taken captive and put to the crudest torture. One of those 
was Col. Ichabod Alden, the great-grandson of John and Priscilla 
Alden of the Mayflower company. On the site of the old fort 
stands a monument to the victims, and a stone marks the burial 
place of Colonel Alden. 

CHIMNEY POINT. While the French were in possession of 
Crown Point they built settlements outside the fort, one of these 
being located almost immediately across the lake. After the capture 
of the fort by the Enghsh, in 1759, it was destroyed, but for years 
its blackened chimneys remained to give the spot its name. 

COBLESKILL. This settlement of nineteen famihes was attacked 
by Brant and three or four hundred Indians, May 30, 1778. Nine 

146] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

houses were burned, and a party of Continental troops who came 
to the rescue were defeated, with a loss of sixteen. A number of the 
inhabitants were also killed. The surviving settlers escaped to 
Schoharie, but the Indians took away all the cattle and provisions. 

COMMEMORATIVE BOULDER ON ISLE LA MOTTE was 

dedicated in 1909, during the Champlain Tercentenary Celebration. 

It bears a bronze tablet with the following inscription : 

IN HONOR OF THE FIRST WHITE MEN WHO FORTIFIED 

THIS ISLAND IN 1666 

IN MEMORY OF THE SACRIFICES AND VALOR OF 

COLONEL SETH WARNER AND CAPTAIN 

REMEMBER BAKER 

EMINENT GREEN MOUNTAIN BOYS AND PATRIOTS 

AND TO COMMEMORATE THE CAMPAIGN OF GENERAL 

MONTGOMERY WHO ENCAMPED NEAR THIS 

SPOT WITH 1200 MEN IN 1775 

THIS TABLET IS ERECTED BY THE 

PATRIOTIC SOCIETIES OF VERMONT WOMEN 

1909 

CONGRESS OF 1754. While to Philadelphia remains the honor 
of being the seat of the first Continental Congress, it was in Albany, 
in 1754, to quote the words of President Garfield, ''that the first 
germ of the American union was planted by Benjamin Franklin." 
The colonies of New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Con- 
necticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Maryland were repre- 
sented by twenty-five commissioners, who, on June 19, 1754, met in 
Albany to consider some plan of union. For twelve days they de- 
bated the one presented by Benjamin Frankhn, which was finally 
adopted without material change, on July 11th, subject to the ap- 
proval of the king and of the several Colonial assembhes. But it 
was everywhere rejected — ^by the assembhes because it gave too 
much power to the general government: by the king because it did 
not give enough. 

COHOES FALLS, AS SEEN BY TOM MOORE. Tom Moore 
(1779-1852), the Irish poet, author of Lalla Rookh, visited this 
country in 1804. He had been appointed to a government position 
in Bermuda; but disHking the job, entrusted it to a deputy and 
traveled in the United States. Among the hterary products of the 
tour were the fines written at the Cohoes, or Falls of the Mohawk 
River, which may be found in his works. 

[47] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

Mr. Moore thought the country immediately about the falls of a 
dreary and savage character, much more in harmony with the wild- 
ness of the scene than the cultivated lands in the neighborhood of 
Niagara. *'The fine rainbow which is continually forming and 
dissolving as the spray rises into the Hght of the sun is, " he said, 
"perhaps, the most interesting beauty which these wonderful 
cataracts exhibit." 

COOPER, JAMES FENIMORE, one of the best known of 
American noveHsts, was born at Burhngton, N. J., September 15, 
1789, and died at Cooperstown, N. Y., September 14, 1851. He was 
the author of "The Leather-Stocking Tales," and nearly seventy 
other stories and publications. The "Last of the Mohicans," one of the 
most popular of all of his novels, has many of its scenes in the vicinity 
of Glens Falls and Lake George during the French and Indian War. 
A cave in the Hudson near Glens Falls is easily identified as the place 
where the heroes of the novel were besieged by the Indians. Part 
of the action extends back into the remoter sections of the Adiron- 
dack Mountains. The story also contains a vivid picture of the 
Massacre of Fort William Henry (q. v.). Cooper's most important 
works began with "The Spy," a story of the Revolution, which proved 
the greatest "seller " the country had ever known. This was followed 
two years later by "The Pioneers, or the Sources of the Susque- 
hanna," which was the first to be pubHshed of what are known as 
"The Leather-Stocking Tales." In it the novelist describes with 
minuteness the scenery which surrounded his father's residence on 
Otsego Lake, and introduced the famous Leather-Stocking, or 
Natty Bumppo, "the chevalier of the woods." In 1826, the "Last 
of the Mohicans," a narrative of 1757, was published, Leather-Stock- 
ing appearing in an early age of his career, and with him the Indian 
heroes that made Cooper famous. In "The Prairie" (1827) Leather- 
Stocking becomes a trapper in the West, where he closes his career. 
In "The Pathfinder" (1840) and * 'The Deerslayer" (1841) many of the 
old personages reappear. The scene of "The Deerslayer" is laid on 
Otsego Lake, many incidents taking place in the "ark'* of Tom 
Hutter, the soHtary white man who constructs this floating fortress 
against the Indians. 

In spite of Mark Twain's definition of the Cooper Indians as 
"an extinct tribe that never existed," these novels remain one of 
the most vitally interesting literary products born of the storm and 
stress of our Colonial history. 

[481 




THE STATUE OF AN INDIAN HUNTER MARKS THE SITE OF COOPER'S 
RESIDENCE AT OTSEGO LAKE 




A MORTAR AND TABLET COMMEMORATE THE DAMMING OF OTSEGO LAKE BY 
GENERAL CLINTON OF SULLIVAN'S EXPEDITION IN 1778 



THE SUMxMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

COOPERSTOWN, which stands at the foot of Otsego Lake on 
the site of an old Indian village, was founded by William Cooper, 
father of James Fenimore Cooper, the novelist, who was brought 
here in 1790 when an infant. Here he Hved the greater part of his 
hfe, and here he is buried. His father's log-house in a few years gave 
way to Otsego Hall, for many years the most stately and spacious 
private residence in central New York. It was burned a few years 
after the novehst's death, a stone Indian hunter now marking the 
site. A statue of Leather-Stocking, with rifle and dog, surmounts 
the Cooper Memorial in the cemetery. Many natural features in the 
vicinity are named after characters in the Cooper novels. 

COUNCIL ROCK is a large boulder in Otsego Lake, referred to 
by Cooper, and generally believed to have been a favorite haunt of 
the Indians. In time of extreme low water the rock now appears 
as an oval cone about nine feet in diameter one way and six feet the 
other. From the bed on which it rests it rises about four and a half 
feet. When the water is extremely high the rock is covered. 

CUMBERLAND HEAD is one of the best-known landmarks of 
Lake Champlain. It closes Plattsburg Bay from the main lake on 
the northeast and is clearly visible from the trains entering Platts- 
burg. It was on a Hne between this long peninsula and Crab Island 
to the south that MacDonough's fleet was anchored during the 
Battle of Lake Champlain (q. v.). 



DARK AND BLOODY GROUND. The Saratoga county of the 
present time was hke Kentucky, "the dark and bloody ground," 
the hunting and fishing country of the Five Nations on the south, 
and their enemies, the Algonquins, on the north. Through here 
their war trails led, and here they often planned their ambuscades. 
Under more civiUzed strife it was scarcely less bloody, until the 
culmination of aU its conflicts in the Battle of Saratoga (q. v.). 
DELAWARE AND HUDSON COMPANY. The history of the 
Delaware and Hudson Company is inseparably bound up with the 
finding of coal in Pennsylvania and the tremendous industrial de- 
velopment of the country which followed as one of the immediate 
results of its distribution. The coal of Virginia, discovered in 1701, 
had been mined since 1750. It is said in "The World's Progress" that 
the anthracite coal of Pennsylvania was first used by a blacksmith 
in the Wyoming Valley in 1775. But in 1792, when Charles Cist, 
a Philadelphia printer and pubhsher, brought to that city several 

1491 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

wagon-loads of anthracite which, in order to introduce what he 
called a new fuel, he offered to give away, he was very nearly mobbed 
for trying to impose on the people with a lot of ''black stones." 
In 1806 some mining was done at Mauch Chunk, and in 1812 William 
Wurts, a Philadelphia merchant, and his brother Maurice, after 
months of prospecting up and down the valley of the Lacka waxen 




THE STOURBRIDGE LION 



and Lackawanna, managed to raft a few tons to that city, where it 
was still thought to be of httle or no value. But the brothers went 
on buying coal lands at from fifty cents to three dollars an acre, 
which subsequently formed the first holdings of the Delaware and 
Hudson Company. 

The original charter was granted to the Delaware and Hudson 
Canal Company by the legislature of the State of New York in 1823. 
Two years later ground was broken for a canal, which, reaching from 
Rondout, on the Hudson, to Honesdale, Pennsylvania, one hundred 
and eight miles, was completed in 1828, at a cost of $6,300,000. 
This was within the estimates, and less than had been calculated 
by the engineers. The canal was intended almost solely for carrying 

[50] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

coal, which was first mined within the present Hmits of Carbondale. 
It was carried over a gravity raihoad, begun in 1827 and completed 
in 1829, to the canal at Honesdale. It was on this railroad that the 
"Stomrbridge Lion," the first locomotive engine that ever turned a 
wheel on any railroad on this continent, was used. It was imported 
from England by the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, taken 
by canal-boat from New York to Carbondale, Pa., and the first trip 
made August 8, 1829, from Honesdale to Seeleyville and return. 
The first boats carried twenty-five tons each, but, by enlargements 
of the canal in 1844 and in 1862, boats carrying from one hundred 
and twenty-five to one hundred and fifty tons were used. The final 
capacity of the canal, with its equipments, in ordinary boating seasons, 
was 2,500,000 tons annually. The canal was abandoned January 1, 
1899, since which time the entire coal and freight carrying business 
of the company has been done by rail. 

DE COURCELLES, EXPEDITIONS OF. The first armed 
French expedition from the forts at the foot of Lake Champlain 
started southward in January, 1666, to punish the Iroquois for their 
depredations against the French settlements. It consisted of three 
hundred of the Carignan regiment and two hundred habitants. 
They lost their way through the incompetence of guides, and on 
February 9th reached the vicinity of what is now Schenectady. 
Here they were led into an ambush by the Indians and many were 
killed. But for the intercession of Arendt Van Corlear, an influential 
settler of Albany, they would doubtless aU have been massacred. 
On October 1st of the same year De Courcelles commanded the 
vanguard of another expedition into the Mohawk country, under 
De Tracy, which was entirely successful. The villages were ravaged 
and large stores of corn and other provisions were burned, as the 
result of which the French settlements enjoyed several years of 
comparative peace. 

DOWNIE, CAPTAIN GEORGE, commanded the British squad- 
ron in the battle of Lake Champlain (q. v.). He was killed in the 
action and buried, with the other British and American officers who 
fell in the same engagement, in the Plattsburg cemetery. 

DUTCHMAN'S POINT, on the island of North Hero in Lake 
Champlain, was the location of a British post, which was maintained 
there for thirteen years after the close of the Revolution. It made no 
demonstration against the inhabitants and was finally abandoned. 
Another post was held at Point au Fer at the same time. 

[51] 



THE SUMIMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

ELLSWORTH, COL. ELMER E., one of the first, if not actually 
tlie first, victim of the Civil War, is buried at Mcchanioville, 
his birthplace, where there is a nioiuiinent to his memory, which can 
be seen from the car windows. Organizer of a zouave regiment of 
New York City firemen, though only twenty-four years of age, hand- 
some as an Apollo, brave to rashness, and popular* to idolatry, his death, 
May 24, 1S61, after having recklessly torn a Confederate flag from the 
roof of a hotel in Alexamhia as his regiment was entering Virginia, 
created the wildest excitement throughout the North. 



FIDDLER'S ELBOW is a sharp bend in Wood Creek, close to the 
tracks of the Delaware and Hudson, about a mile north of White- 
hall, where the stream turns abruptly to the east. Here a sharp 
engagement was fought between rangers under Lsrael Putnam and 
a party of Fi-ench from Ticonderoga under Marin, in June, 175S, 
while Abercrombie's army was advancing to Lake George prepara- 
tory to the attack on Ticonderoga. (See Abercrombie's Expedition.) 
Putnam had been ordered to scout with fifty rangers along Wood 
Creek and South Bay. "He proceeded down the creek to Fiddk^'s 
Elbow where high rocks jut into the sti-eiuu, and, compressing it 
into narrow hmits, make a short and sudden curve. On this he 
erected a stone breastwork, about thirty feet long, and concealed 
its front by pine trees, so placed as to present the appeiu*ance of a 
natural growth of forest. On the fourth day, at evening, a body of 
men from Carillon, in boats, commanded by M. Marin, was seen 
entering the mouth of the creek. The moon was at its full and shed 
its clear, yellow hght upon every movement of the enemy. In the 
dead silence was heard the murmur of voices, and even the ripples 
that broke around the barges. Continuing to advance, some of tlie 
boats had already passed the parapet, when a soldier's musket, 
accidently striking a stone, gave a ring so audible, in the stillness of 
the evening, that the leading canoes stopped. The others coming 
up, they lay upon their oars at the base of the chtT — five hundred 
men crowded together, their upturned faces distinctly seen by the 
hght of the evening. They gazed intently at the parapet, upon the 
apex of which, hkc a bird of prey in his eyrie, Putnam w:is watching 
his victims. The low 'O'wish' of the Indian stole over the water. 
A moment more, and the word *Firel* broke upon their ears in 
startling clearness from the hps of the provincial commander. At 
once the flash of musketry gleamed from the bushes, and a shower 

[52] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

of balls sent death into the mass beneath. All was confusion; and 
while some moved out from the thickest of the crowd, others repUed 
by a volley of bullets which cut through the trees and struck harm- 
lessly against the rocks. The fight, such as it was, was continued 
during the entire night. The French detached a body of men to 
effect a landing and charge upon the rear of the provincials. Lieut. 
Robert Durkee, with a detail of twelve men, was sent to oppose 
them in this design, in which he succeeded. In the morning, his 
ammunition being exhausted, Putnam retreated, leaving two 
wounded soldiers. As he was falling back, the commander was met 
by a party who had come out to his assistance. Before they could 
be recognized, they received a volley, which, however, was harmless. 
'Friends or foes,' said Putnam, 'you deserve to perish for doing so 
httle execution.' " — Butler. 

FIRST NAVAL BATTLE ON LAKE CHAMPLAIN. FoUowing 
the capture of Fort Ticonderoga and Fort St. Frederic by General 
Amherst in 1759, a small fleet was hastily constructed by the British 
under the direction of Captain Loring, who set sail for the north on 
October 11th. On the 13th he encountered a schooner and three 
sloops, which he forced aground on Valcour Island, thus winning 
the first naval battle on the inland sea. 

FORT ANN, formerly spelled Fort Anne, was at first known as 
Fort Schuyler in honor of Col. Peter Schuyler, who commanded the 
vanguard of Nicholson's Expedition (q. v.) against the French in 
1709. Fort Schuyler was destroyed by Colonel Nicholson when his 
army retreated to Albany, but two years later, when Nicholson's 
second expedition reached that spot, was rechristened Queen's Fort, 
and then Fort Anne. It was rebuilt in 1757, and the following year 
Capt. Robert Rogers fought an engagement near here with a force 
of French and Indians under Marin. In 1777 General Schuyler 
made it his headquarters for a time; but when Burgoyne reached the 
head of Lake Champlain (see Burgoyne's Campaign), the Americans 
retreated to Fort Edward, felling trees across the old military road, 
demohshing the causeways over the great Kingsbury marshes, and 
destroying bridges to obstruct the progress of the invader. Later the 
British occupied the partly burned fortifications. 

FORT BLUNDER was the name by which for a time Fort 
Montgomery, one mile north of Rouse's Point on the Canadian 
frontier, was known, because of the fact that after a large amount 
of work had been expended thereon, it was discovered to be on 

[531 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

Canadian territory. It was thereupon abandoned till a change 
of boundary gave the land to the United States, when the fortifica- 
tion was completed at a cost of $600,000. It commands the Riche- 
lieu River and was designed for one hundred and sixty-four guns. 
It was never garrisoned, however, and though now in excellent 
preservation, and a point of much interest to the traveler, is entirely 
out of date. The top of its walls may be seen to the east from the 
car windows, just north of Rouse's Point. 

FORT CHAMBLY was built at the foot of the falls of Chambly, 
in the present valley of Chambly, by Captain de Chambly of the 
Carignan-SaUeres (q. v.) regiment in 1664. He called it Fort St. 
Louis, but it was later known as Fort Chambly. It was one of the 
hne of forts built by the French as bases for their expeditions against 
the Iroquois. 

FORT CLINTON was Fort Saratoga, as it was rebuilt a year 
after the Saratoga Massacre of November 16, 1745. The location 
was somewhat changed, however, to avoid interfering with some 
wheat-fields which were then growing. During the night of the 17th 
of June, 1747, it "was approached by a band of French and Indians 
under the command of La Corne St. Luc. While the main body 
of the French were lying in concealment near by, La Corne sent 
forward six scouts with orders to he in ambush within eight paces 
of the fort, to fire upon those who should first come out of the fort 
the next morning, and, if attacked, to retreat, pretending to be 
wounded. At daybreak in the morning two EngUshmen came out 
of the fort, and they were at once fired upon by the French scouts, 
who thereupon fled. Soon after the firing began, a hundred and 
twenty EngHshmen came out of the fort, headed by their officers, 
and started in hot pursuit of the French scouts. The Enghsh soon 
fell in with the main body of the French, who, rising from their 
ambuscade, poured a galling fire into the Enghsh ranks. The 
EngHsh at first bravely stood their ground and sharply returned 
the fire. The guns of the fort also opened upon the French with 
grape and cannon-shot. But the Indians soon rushed upon the 
Enghsh with terrible yells, and with tomahawk in hand drove them 
into the fort, giving them scarcely time to shut the gates behind 
them. Many of the English soldiers, being imable to reach the fort, 
ran down the hill into the river, and were drowned or killed with 
the tomahawk. The Indians killed and scalped twenty-eight of the 

[54] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

English, and took forty-five prisoners, besides those drowned in the 
river. ' ' — Sylvester. 

In the fall of 1747 Fort Clinton was abandoned and burned by- 
order of Governor CUnton, on the ground that the Assembly did 
not furnish enough troops and suppUes to protect it from northern 
attacks. 

FORT CROWN POINT was originally an EngHsh trading station, 
but about 1731, when Louis XV was king and the nations were at 
peace, the French erected here a fort which was called Fort St . Frederic, 
consisting of a wall of Hmestone, high and thick, enclosing stone 
barracks, a church and a tall bomb-proof tower, the armament con- 
sisting of sixty-two cannon. The shores were then much more 
thickly settled than now; a town of 1,500 inhabitants being near 
the fort, with gardens, vineyards, stores and paved streets. It was 
the intention of the French to make this the capital of the new 
province extending from the Connecticut River to Lake Ontario. 
An article in the Royal Magazine for January, 1760, accompanying 
a view of the original Fort St. Frederic, says: "Here the French col- 
lected their whole force, and from hence those shoals of scalping 
parties, those foes to humanity, and scandal to the Christian name, 
issued to plunder and destroy the innocent inhabitants of the 
adjacent country." 

The French held this fort, in spite of hostile English expeditions 
against it in 1755-56, till 1759, when the garrison, with that of Fort 
Ticonderoga, retreated down the lake. General Amherst then took 
possession, and in 1759-60 began work on fortifications the ruins of 
which still remain, and which, although never completed, are said 
to have ultimately cost the incredible sum of $10,000,000! The 
ramparts were twenty-five feet thick, and nearly the same in height, 
faced with soHd masonry. The whole circuit was 853 yards. A 
broad ditch surrounded the works, and from the northeast bastion 
a covered way led to the water. In 1773 the barracks took fire and 
the magazine exploded, partly demolishing the fortification. The 
fort was for a time known as Fort Amherst. 

On May 11, 1775, Seth Warner, at the head of a company of 
Green Mountain Boys, captured the fort, then garrisoned by only 
twelve men. (See Fort Ticonderoga.) In 1775, on the approach of 
General Burgoyne, it was temporarily abandoned by the Americans, 
and has never since resumed mihtary prominence. The ruins occupy 
the promontory between the lake and Bulwagga Bay, six miles 
north of the present town, and are reached by ferry from Port 

[55] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

Henry. Prior to March, 1910, they were the property of F. S. and 
W. C. Witherbee of Port Henry, who presented to the State of 
New York, by deed of gift, both the ruins and the land upon which 
they stand, upon condition that they be *' forever dedicated to the 
purpose of a public park or reservation, the people of the State of 
New York agreeing to protect the fort ruins on said land from spoha- 
tion and further disintegration, to the end that they may be 
preserved for all time, so far as may be." They were accepted by 
the legislature in 1910, since which time the walls of the buildings 
that stiU stand within the earthworks have been strengthened and 
preserved by forcing a thin solution of concrete into the cracks of 
the stonework, where the original mortar had decomposed. The 
character of the structures has been in no way changed, and no 
attempt has been made to restore them to the form in which they 
originally stood, but simply to preserve them against the further 
action of the elements. On the site the State of New York wiU 
maintain a museum containing relics and other objects of interest 
recovered from the ruins. On the point to the east of the fort stands 
the Champlain Memorial, a hghthouse topped with a gigantic 
bronze figure of the discoverer of the lake. The Champlain Memorial 
and the ruins of Fort Amherst and Fort St. Frederic thus constitute 
one of the most interesting objectives for visitors in the whole 
extent of the lake. Many thousands of them cross each season on 
the Httle ferry from Port Henry to cUmb the mammoth works 
which were designed to hold the power of Great Britain secure 
forever upon the inland sea. 

FORT EDWARD. The first fortification to be estabhshed on 
the present site of Fort Edward, at the Hudson River end of the 
Great Carrjdng Place (q. v.), was Fort Nicholson. It was built by 
Col. Peter Schuyler, the commander of the vanguard of Nicholson's 
Expedition (q. v.) against Crown Point in 1709. Upon the retreat 
of Nicholson's army from Lake Champlain it was abandoned. In 
1732 John Henry Lydius pm-chased from the Indians a large section 
of land covering the Great Carrying Place, constructed a block- 
house and a sawmill, and estabhshed a colony which he named 
Fort Lydius. His settlement was destroyed by the French and 
Indians on their way to the Massacre of Schenectady in 1745. In 
1755 Gen. Phinehas Lyman, an officer in Johnson's Expedition 
(q. v.), built another fortification at the end of the Great Carrying 
Place, which he called Fort Lyman. It was a strong, irregular, 
quadrangular fortification, and was not fairly completed when the 

[661 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

Battle of Lake George (q. v.) waa fought. General Johnson evinced 
his loyalty to the crown by changing the name to Fort Edward in 
honor of the Duke of York. Here, in 1757, the survivors of the Fort 
William Henry Massacre took refuge. During both the French and 
Indian War and that of the Revolution, Fort Edward waa the start- 
ing point for expeditions against Canada. In 1777 it was the head- 
quarters of the Americans after their retreat from Fort Ticonderoga, 
and later was occupied by General Burgoyne. (See Burgo3Tie's 
Campaign.) It was used by the Americans until the close of the 
Revolution, and then fell into disuse. 

FORT FREDERIC was a large, well-armed fort, which, during 
the French and Indian War, stood on State Street in Albany, just 
below the site of the Capitol. It is not to be confused with that of 
Fort St. Frederic, which was the original fortification at Crown 
Point. Albany was at all times prepared to resist an attack, but no 
engagement was ever fought at that point. 

FORT GAGE. Travelers on the old stage coaches, which in the 
"seventies" of the last century ran between the Glens Falls terminus 
of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad, then the end of the hne, and 
Lake George, as they rolled over the famous old plank road, now 
part of the State Road System, would pass a sign about a mile south 
of Fort William Henry, reading "Fort Gage." The early history 
of this fort, which was on a rise of ground to the left of the road, is 
entirely lost. It is supposed, however, to have been fortified early 
in the French and Indian War, and to have been suppHed with big 
guns, as it commanded the approach to Fort George on the north. 
Tradition states that in 1758 Lord Howe encamped here with the 
advance guard of Abercrombie's army and engaged with Stark, 
Putnam, Duncan Campbell and the New Englanders in "jumping 
the stick." It is said that Lord Howe beat the New Englanders at 
their own game by crossing the bar at six feet and six inches. The 
hill waa later named for Brig.-Gen. Thomas Gage, second in 
command to Amherst in 1759. On its crest the trolley cars of the 
Hudson Valley Railway now pass a switching point on their way to 
and from the historic points to the southward. 

FORT GEORGE was built at the head of Lake George by General 
Amherst, in 1759, as a base in his advance against Fort Ticonderoga 
(q. v.). It was on higher ground than Fort WiUiam Henry, although 
commanded by points near by. Charles Dudley Warner, who 
visited this locahty several years ago, and wrote his impressions for 

[57] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 




[581 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

Harper^ s Magazine, said: "Fort George, although in a most dilapi- 
dated condition, due in part to the disgraceful conduct of neighbor- 
ing farmers, who burned part of its walls for lime, yet remains a 
picturesque ruin — one of the few we still possess. It is star-shaped, 
and stands on a shght eminence in a valley surrounded by lofty 
hills. It must have been a difl&cult position to carry by assault in 
those days. A few years ago the lake could be distinctly seen from 
the fort, but the pines have since grown up and formed a massive 
screen, as if to shelter it from further damage from the elements or 
man. It is a charming spot towards evening, a scene of extraordinary 
beauty and repose. The purple shadows slowly creep up the hill- 
sides; on the stillness float the far-off crow of the barnyard fowls, 
and the tinkle of their bells as the cattle wend homeward; and 
nearer by are heard the plaintive, monotonous peep of the phcebe- 
bird, the buzz of the locust, and the cricket's creaking sohloquy. 
What does he care what happened at Fort George last century, if 
you but leave him to chirp at his own sweet will? 

Fort George was captured on May 12, 1775, by Col. Bernard 
Romans, who had originally enrolled as a member of Ethan Allen's 
expedition against Ticonderoga. He left Allen's party at Pittsfield, 
Massachusetts, apparently to everybody's satisfaction, and pro- 
ceeded alone to Fort Edward, where he enlisted sixteen men and 
went on to Fort George. Fort George at this time was occupied 
only by a caretaker, whose chief duty was to assist in the forwarding 
of expresses to and from Canada. The fort contained some stores, 
however, which Romans took possession of for the Continental army. 

FORT HARDY was built in August, 1755, by Gen. Phinehas 
Lyman, at the mouth of Fish Creek, on the Hudson, now Schuyler- 
ville. It was named for Sir Charles Hardy, Governor of New York, 
and was intended primarily as a supply post for Johnson's Expedi- 
tion (q. v.), which was then advancing against Crown Point. (See 
Fort Saratoga and Fort Clinton.) 

FORT INGOLDSBY was built during Queen Anne's War, in 
1709, near the present village of Stillwater, on the Hudson, by 
Col. Peter Schuyler. It was named in honor of the heutenant- 
governor of the province, and was intended as a supply post in 
Nicholson's Expedition (q. v.) against the French in Canada. 

FORT LA PRAIRIE marked the site of a French settlement on 
the south bank of the St. Lawrence River, above the mouth of the 
Richelieu. An expedition against it was conducted by Capt. 

[59] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

John Schuyler in August, 1690, following the abandonment of 
Winthrop's Expedition (q, v.), as a retaHation for the Massacre of 
Schenectady. The inhabitants were sm-prised as they were at work 
in the fields, but retreated to the fort with the loss of six killed and 
nineteen taken prisoners. One hundred and fifty head of oxen were 
slaughtered and all of the houses and barns outside the fort were 
burned. The following year, June, 1691, Schuyler's brother, Maj. 
Philip Schuyler, surprised the fort again, captured it, killed many 
of its defenders, and withdrew to Albany, after first fighting an 
engagement with the French in the woods, in which about two 
hundred of them were killed or wounded. Schuyler's loss was 
trifling. (See Battle of Wilton.) 

FORT LYDIUS was built on the ruins of old Fort Nicholson by 
John Henry Lydius, who in 1732 purchased from the Indians a 
large section of land covering the Great Carrying Place, constructed 
a blockhouse and sawmill, and established a colony. The settle- 
ment was destroyed by the French and Indians on their way to the 
Massacre of Schenectady in November, 1745. 

FORT LYMAN was built at the beginning of the Great Carrying 
Place in July, 1755, by Gen. Phinehas Lyman, who commanded a 
body of provincial troops and Indians, forming part of Johnson's 
army for the attack upon Fort St. Frederic. Johnson later changed 
the name to Fort Edward. (See Johnson's Expedition.) 

FORT MILLER was built during Queen Anne's War, in 1709, 
at the rapids in the Hudson between Schuylerville and Fort Edward, 
by Col. Peter Schuyler, who commanded the vanguard of Nichol- 
son's Expedition (q. v.). It was designed to defend the landing 
at that point, and was thus an important Hnk in the chain of posts 
estabHshed to relay supplies for the expedition. 

FORT NASSAU was the first fort built on the present site of 
Albany. It was erected by Hendrick Christensen in 1614, on Castle 
Island, near the end of the old Indian Carrying Place to the Mohawk 
at Schenectady. Castle Island was on the east side of the river below 
Rensselaer and was for a long time known as Patroon's Island. It has 
since been joined with the mainland and has entirely lost its identity. 

FORT RICHELIEU was the first fort built by the French to 
protect their settlements on the St. Lawrence from the expeditions 
of the Iroquois down Lake Champlain. It was erected at the mouth 
of the Richelieu River, in 1641, by De Montagny, who succeeded 
Champlain as governor of New France, and was named after Cardinal 

[601 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

Richelieu, then at the height of his power in France. It was later 
abandoned, but in 1664 was again rebuilt by order of Marquis de 
Tracy. (See Carignan-SaHeres.) 

FORT SARATOGA was built in 1709, on the Hudson, nearly 
opposite the mouth of Fish Creek, by Col. Peter Schuyler, who 
commanded the vanguard of Nicholson's Expedition (q. v.), on the 
spot where he had built a blockhouse in 1690 (see Winthrop's Ex- 
pedition), and about which since that date a little settlement had 
grown up. It was planned as one of the chain of supply posts in 
Nicholson's Expedition against the French. (See Fort Clinton.) 

FORT ST. ANNE, the foyrth in the chain of French forts in the 
Champlain Valley, was built by Captain de La Mothe on Isle La 
Motte in 1665. It was the last outpost from which the French made 
their raids into the territory of the Iroquois and from which their 
expeditions for the Massacres of Shenectady and Saratoga set out. 
(See Carignan-SaUeres.) 

FORT ST. JOHN, on the Richelieu River, was occupied as a 
British post during the Revolution. It was besieged by Montgomery 
in his advance on Montreal in 1775, and surrendered to hirn Novem- 
ber 3d. (See Montgomery's Expedition.) 

FORT ST. THERESA was the third in the chain of forts on the 
Richelieu River, erected in 1664 by order of Marquis de Tracy, 
Viceroy of Canada, to offset the Iroquois. It was located nine miles 
south of the present village of Chambly. (See Carignan-Saheres.) 

FORT TICONDEROGA. The first fort buUt on the promontory 
which so perfectly commands the southern extremity of Lake 
Champlain was erected by the French in 1755 to prevent the 
Enghsh from entering Canada, and was called by them Fort Carillon 
(a chime of bells), in recognition of the music of near-by waterfalls. 
Here, in 1757, Montcalm assembled a force of 9,000 men, with 
which, sweeping up Lake George, he captured the Enghsh fort 
at its head. (See Fort William Henry.) In July of the following 
year the EngUsh general, James Abercrombie, unsuccessfully 
stormed Fort Carillon with 15,000 men, of whom 2,000 were killed, 
including Lord Howe (q.v.). (See Abercrombie's Expedition.) 

In 1759, however, Abercrombie's successor. General Amherst, was 
more fortunate, investing the fort with 12,000 men. The French, 
under General Bourlamarque, by this time too weak to do other- 
wise, dismantled and abandoned both this fort and Fort St. Frederic, 

[61] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

and retired permanently to Canada. After they had gone, three 
deserters came into the English camp reporting the fact of the 
embarkation and that a match was burning in the magazine that 
would soon blow the fortress to atoms. General Amherst offered a 
hundred guineas to any one of them who would point out the 
match so that it could be cut, but all shrank from the perilous 
venture. This was at ten o'clock. All was silent till eleven, when a 
broad, fierce glare burst on the night and a roaring explosion shook 
the promontory; then came a few breathless moments, and frag- 
ments of the old fort fell with clatter and splash on the surrounding 
land and water. But one bastion had thus been hurled skyward. 
The rest of the fort was little hurt, though the barracks were on 
fire. Thus ended the first act in the eventful drama of "Old Ti." 

After the cession of Canada to Great Britain, the name of the 
fort was changed to Fort Ticonderoga. It was weakly garrisoned; 
and the War of the Revolution being well under way, one morning 
at daybreak, in May, 1775, it was surprised by Ethan Allen (q.v.) 
with his "Green Mountain Boys." The garrison promptly yielded, 
and the fort and its armament came quietly into the possession of 
the Americans. Credit for inspiring this attack has been claimed 
not only by Allen, but also by Benedict Arnold, Col. Samuel Holden 
Parsons, of Connecticut, and WiUiam Gilliland. It is probable 
that it occurred to many at the same time. 

In the summer of 1777, General Burgo3aie, on his way down from 
Canada, or perhaps, more exactly speaking, his second in command. 
Gen. WiUiam Phillips, an artillery officer of skill and energy, placed, 
in spite of tremendous natural obstacles, a battery on Sugar Loaf 
Hill, or Mt. Defiance (q.v.), and so compelled the bloodless evacua- 
tion of the old fortification. General St. Clair retreating without resist- 
ance. Later in the same year Gen. Benjamin Lincoln recaptm-ed 
Mt. Defiance, releasing one hundred American prisoners and taking 
two hundred and ninety-three of the EngHsh, but failed to recover 
the fort itseK. After Burgoyne surrendered at Saratoga, the English 
garrison was removed and the fort dismantled, although in 1780 
another English force under General Haldimand was stationed 
there for a time. 

Today, in all this fair and happy land, no more peaceful scene 
presents itself than these old ruined walls and their environment, 
where thousands of the brave men of two great nations have died, 
and human blood has flowed Hke water. They have been partly 
restored and preserved against further despohation at the hands 

[621 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

of time by the Pell family, decendants of William F. Pell, who 
acquired the property in 1818. 

FORT WILLIAM, a blockhouse erected near the jnouth of 
Otter Creek, witnessed part of the bitter strife between the settlers 
under the New Hampshire grants and those from New York. A 
New York grant gave to John Reid a tract four miles wide on both 
sides of Otter Creek, from its mouth to Sutherland Falls. Settlers 
under a New Hampshire patent, after having cleared the land and 
made roads, were driven out by Reid. Ethan Allen's Green Moun- 
tain Boys thereupon ejected Reid and his party and destroyed 
their gristmill. Reid returned with a party of Scotch settlers and 
once more expelled the original owners and repaired the mill. Again 
the Green Mountain Boys visited Reid's settlement, driving ofiF 
the Scotch immigrants, burning their crops and breaking the mill- 
stones, which they threw over the falls. The Green Mountain 
Boys thereupon erected Fort WilUam to cHnch their advantage. 

FORT WILLIAM HENRY, built at the head of Lake George 
by Gen. Sir WnHam Johnson in 1755, was named in honor of WiUiam 
Henry, Duke of Gloucester, grandson of George II and brother 
of George HI. It was well placed to command one of the most 
strategic locations on the war trails from Lake Champlain to 
Albany. Here began the long portage from Lake George to the 
Hudson at Fort Edward, and from here could be launched attacks 
over the mountain-hemmed waters of the lake against the French 
in Canada. The fort was of pine logs banked with sand, had four 
bastions, and was surrounded by a deep ditch. It stood upon a 
sHght eminence overlooking the lake and was admirably planned 
to resist assault. After the battle of Lake George (q. v.), which 
was fought September 8, 1755, before the fort was built. General 
Johnson made no further demonstration against the French during 
that season, occupying his time upon the fortifications. The fol- 
lowing year, 1756, the works were materially strengthened and 
completed, while the French were completing Fort Carillon, later 
called Fort Ticonderoga by the EngUsh. 

In March, 1757, ChevaHer Pierre Francois de Vaudreuil, with 
1,500 French and Indians, made a night attack over the ice, which 
was unsuccessful, though they burned everything outside of the 
fort, including bateaux, quantities of lumber, provisions and houses. 
This was the forerunner of a more determined attack conducted by 
Montcalm in August of the same year, who invested the fort with 

[63] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

six thousand men and two thousand Indians. The works were 
held by only 2,300 men under command of Colonel Monroe, though 
Colonel Webb with large reinforcements was at Fort Edward, only 
fifteen miles away. Monroe's appeals for assistance were ignored 
by Webb, who cravenly kept to his defences. Finally, on August 9, 
Monroe surrendered under Montcalm's promise that his garrison 
would be given safe escort to Fort Edward. They were scarcely 
outside the walls, however, before the Indians set upon them and 
massacred a large number of the defenceless men, women and chil- 
dren, and carried others into captivity. This single blot upon the 
bright record of Montcalm has never been satisfactorily explained. 
Cooper, in the "Last of the Mohicans," has vividly described the 
scene with the characteristic vigor of his imagination. Parkman, 
however, has given a more trustworthy account. "On the morning 
after the massacre, the Indians decamped in a body and set out for 
Montreal, carrying with them their plunder and some two hundred 
prisoners, who, it was said, could not be got out of their hands. 
The French soldiers were set to the work of demoUshing the English 
fort, and the task occupied several days. The barracks were torn 
down, and the large pine logs of the rampart thrown into a heap. 
The dead bodies that filled the casemates were added to the mass, 
and fire was set to the whole. The mighty funeral pyre blazed all 
night. Then on the 17th the army re-embarked. The din of 10,000 
combatants, the rage, the terror, the agony were gone, and no 
living thing was left but the wolves that gathered from the moun- 
tains to feast upon the dead." — Montcalm and Wolfe, Vol. 1. 

Fort WiUiam Henry was never again rebuilt, though the follow- 
ing year saw the brilHant army of Abercrombie encamped about 
the ruins in preparation for its ill-fated attack upon Ticonderoga. 
The site of the old fort is now occupied by the beautiful Fort William 
Henry Hotel, the grounds of which include the entire area of the 
old fortification. The outHnes of the works may be traced in the 
mounds of earth under the pine grove which has grown up on the 
spot. In their center is a well, its stonework still in excellent pres- 
ervation, though its waters have gone dry. Standing within the 
earthworks, it requires little imagination to picture the besieging 
army of Montcalm as it drew closer and closer to the walls, to hear 
the exchange of cannon and musketry between the fort and the 
trenches of the French, or the frightful war-cry of the Indians, 
echoed a thousand times from the surrounding mountains, as they 

[64] 




r #^^ 





igaiiiiin?iiiwi>iii»tfffi« 




BRONZE FIGURES OF JOHNSON AND - KING " HENDRICK SURMOUNT THE 
LAKE GEORGE BATTLE MONUMENT 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

fell upon their helpless victims, on the lowland to the south, where 
the trail ran out to Fort Edward. 

FORT WINSLOW was built in 1756 at StiUwater-on-the-Hudson, 
on the site of Fort Ingoldsby, which had been erected there by 
Colonel Schuyler in 1709. It was named after Gen. John Winslow, 
who succeeded General Johnson in command of Fort William 
Henry in 1756. Fort Winslow was designed as a supply station 
on the road northward from Albany. 

FORTS IN SCHOHARIE COUNTY. During the Revolution, 
Schoharie county was frequently overrun by British and Indians, 
under Sir John Johnson, Brant and the notorious Walter Butler 
Three forts were erected by the Colonists. The Upper Fort stood 
near the bank of Schoharie Creek, in the present hmits of the town 
of Fulton, the Middle Fort was a short distance from Middleburg 
Village, on the plain east of the road to Schoharie Village, while 
the Lower Fort was the old stone church, about a mile north of 
Schoharie Court-house, and still standing. (See Old Stone Fort.) 
The settlement of Schoharie was burned and the valley devastated 
in October, 1780, but the three forts were never taken. 

FRASER, GEN. SIMON (1729-77), in command of the right 
wing of Burgoyne's army at Saratoga, was mortally wounded in 
the action of October 7 by Tim Murphy (q.v.), one of Morgan's 
riflemen, in obedience, it is said, to special instructions from that 
officer. Lossing says: *' General Eraser, at the head of 500 picked 
men, was the directing spirit of the British troops in action. When 
the hnes gave way, he brought order out of confusion; when regi- 
ments began to waver, he infused courage into them by voice and 
example. He was mounted upon a splendid iron-gray gelding and 
dressed in full uniform of a field officer.*' 

Morgan, seeing how much the fate of the battle depended upon 
this man, gave orders to his sharpshooters to make him their target, 
and five minutes afterwards he fell and was taken off the field, shot 
through the stomach. At sunset the following day he was buried, 
at his own request, in a redoubt on a hill overlooking the Hudson, 
in full sight of both armies. Contemporary military writers affirm 
that had he Hved, the British would have made good their retreat 
into Canada. 

FRONTENAC, COUNT DE, Viceroy of New France from 1672 
to 1698, administered the affairs of the new country with a firmness 

165] 




[661 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

and decision which were largely responsible for the hold which the 
arms of France had gained upon the northern part of the continent 
before the end of the 17th century. Throughout its entire last 
quarter his mind and hand were behind every move of importance 
that was taken by the French in the historic country from Montreal 
southward to Albany. 

FULTON'S STEAMBOAT, the "Clermont," arrived at the foot 
of Madison Avenue, Albany, September 5, 1807, thus completing the 
first steamboat trip of any length ever made in America, and 
for the first time estabUshing the system of steam navigation 
as a practical success. 

FOUR BROTHER ISLANDS he in Lake Champlain just east 
of Willsborough Point, and may be clearly seen from the car windows 
as the train rounds the rocky and picturesque side of Willsborough 
Bay. They were known as an important landmark to both French 
and English, the French calling them by the more poetic name of 
Isle de Quatre Vents. They are now owned by a New York gentle- 
man who has made a refuge and breeding ground of them for the 
gulls which frequent the lake. 

FREDERICK, HAROLD (1856-98), journahst and novelist, 
for a time resided in Albany, as editor of the Evening Journal. 
His "In the Valley," a story of 1777, has some of its most important 
scenes in that city. 



GANSEVOORT GEN. PETER (1749-1812), a native of 
Albany, for twenty days successfully defended Fort Schuyler, 
previously called Fort Stanwix (at what is now Rome, N. Y.), 
against British and Indians under St. Leger, whose co-operation 
with Burgoyne he prevented. (See Burgoyne's Campaign.) His 
grandfather in 1677 bought the land on which Stanwix Hall in 
Albany now stands. General Peter, who in early hfe also served 
under Montgomery in Canada, died in active command at the 
beginning of the War of 1812, and is buried in the Albany Rural 
Cemetery. A station on the Delaware and Hudson, just north of 
Saratoga, where he resided for many years, is named after him. 

GATES, GEN. HORATIO, to whom Burgoyne surrendered at 
Saratoga, although for his services presented by Congress with a 
gold medal, does not stand well in the full Ught of history. It has 

167] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

been shown that he intrigued to supersede both Schuyler and 
Washington; that at the very battle of which he was nominally 
the winner, while his antagonist, Burgoyne, was in the thickest of 
the fight, receiving three bullets through his clothes, Gates was 
two miles away getting the' wagon trains ready for a run in case of 
defeat ; and that the laurels worn by him were really won by Morgan, 
Poor and Arnold. (See Battle of Saratoga.) 

GERTRUDE OF WYOMING, a poem by Thomas Campbell 
(1777-1844), the Enghsh poet, has for its subject the Wyoming 
Massacre (q.v.). Gertrude was the daughter of Albert, patriarch 
of the vaUey. One day an Indian brought to Albert a lad of nine, 
named Henry Waldegrave, and told the old man that he had prom- 
ised the boy's mother, at her death, to place her son under his care. 
The lad remained at Wyoming three years, and was then sent to 
his friends. When grown to manhood he returned and married 
Gertrude; but three months afterwards the massacre took place 
in which both the old man and Gertrude were kiUed. Henry then 
joined the army under Washington. 

Campbell, in his poem, which is accompanied with many notes, 
says that Brant led the forces who perpetrated the massacre; but 
this was expHcitly denied, both by Brant himself and by his biog- 
rapher, William L. Stone. (See Stone, WiUiam L.) 

GILLILAND, WILLIAM, was one of the most remarkable 
persons concerned in the early settlement and cultivation of the 
shores of Lake Champlain, as distinguished from their mihtary 
conquest. In 1764 he purchased several large tracts of land, which 
had been granted under royal authority to officers and soldiers 
who had served in the Canadian campaigns. These tracts extended 
from near Split Rock to north of the Bouquet River. Here he estab- 
lished a settlement, and from then imtil the Revolution labored 
unceasingly to found a manorial estate. The tide of the Revolution, 
however, destroyed his colony; and he died at last, after having 
been in prison for years in New York City for debt, and subse- 
quently making unsuccessful efforts to re-estabHsh himself, a broken 
and discouraged old man. Nevertheless many of the names along 
Lake Champlain commemorate his project — the best known being 
Willsborough, after himself; Elizabethtown, named after his wife; 
and Bessboro, an early name for Westport, in honor of his daughter. 

GREAT CARRYING PLACE was the short interval of only 
eleven miles between the Hudson at Fort Edward and the forks of 

168] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

Wood Creek at Fort Ann. It constituted the sole break of con- 
sequence in the long water route through Lake Champlain, Wood 
Creek, and the Hudson. During the long years of aboriginal oc- 
cupation it was one of the best-known trails in the east, and for the 
same strategic reasons which made it the highway of the Indians 
it has been used ever since by the white men for war and commerce. 
Colonel Schuyler, who commanded the vanguard of Nicholson's 
Expedition (q. v.) in 1709, traversed the trail, and broadened and 
improved it considerably. Thereafter it alternately fell into disuse 
and was reopened as the contending armies of France, England and 
the colonies surged backward and forward. Indeed, it has been 
advanced as one of the causes for the failure of Burgoyne's Campaign 
(q. V.) that Maj. Philip Skene, the founder of Whitehall, advised 
Burgoyne to advance by way of the Great Carrying Place instead 
of Lake George, in order that Skene might have a better road cut for 
himself to the southern settlements. The smooth, level stretches 
of the Great Carrying Place are now crossed by the tracks of the 
Delaware and Hudson, a highway of trade and travel, the users of 
which are httle concerned with the fortunes of war, save as they are 
called to mind by the historic landmarks which line the route from 
end to end. 

GREEN MOUNTAIN BOYS was the name given to soldiers of 
Vermont originally organized in 1770 by Ethan Allen (q.v.) to 
oppose the claims of New York State to Vermont territory. When 
hostihties with Great Britain began, they distinguished themselves 
by seizing Fort Ticonderoga, Crown Point and Skenesborough. (See 
Whitehall.) Thereupon the "Boys" were granted by Congress the 
same pay as soldiers of the Continental Army, and allowed to choose 
their own officers. For a while they were practically the masters 
of Lake Champlain. 

GROWLER AND EAGLE, two sloops under the command 
of Lieut. Sidney Smith, were captured by the British in a severe 
engagement in the Richelieu River on June 3, 1813. Receiving 
information that the British gunboats were making sorties out of 
the river into the lower end of the lake and harassing small craft, 
Thomas MacDonough, then a lieutenant in the United States Navy, 
in command of operations on Lake Champlain, ordered Lieutenant 
Smith to proceed with the "Growler" and "Eagle" to the vicinity 
of the Richelieu to attack the gunboats. Smith discovered three of 

[69] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

the British on the morning of June 3d, and pursued them down 
the Richelieu until he came within sight of the British works at 
Isle aux Noix. He then turned and began to beat back against a 
head-wind and an adverse current into the open lake. 

"As soon as the British were aware of the advantages these 
circumstances gave them, three of their row-galleys came out from 
under the works at Isle aux Noix and opened a brisk fire upon the 
sloops. As the galleys carried long twenty-fours, while the largest 
guns on the sloops were eighteens, the former were able to select 
their own distance, nor could the latter come to close quarters 
without running within range of the fire of the batteries on the 
island. To render the situation of the sloops still more critical, the 
British now fined the woods on each side of the river, and opened 
upon them with musketry. This fire was returned with constant 
discharges of grape and canister, and in this manner the contest 
was continued for several hours, with gallantry on both sides. About 
four hours after the commencement of the action, a shot from one 
of the galleys struck the "Eagle" under her starboard quarter and 
passed out on the other side, ripping off a plank under water. The 
sloop went down almost immediately, but fortunately in shoal water, 
and her crew were taken off by boats sent from the shore; soon after 
this accident, the "Growler" had her forestay and main-boom shot 
away, when she became unmanageable and ran ashore." — Palmer. 

The British repaired the "Growler" and "Eagle," changing their 
names to the "Finch" and "Chubb," and they subsequently formed 
part of the British squadron under Downie in the battle of Lake 
Champlain (q. v.), where they were so badly injured that both vessels 
fell into the hands of the Americans. 



HALF-WAY BROOK, at Glens Falls, was one of the important 
stopping-places on the portage from the Hudson at Fort Edward 
to the head of Lake George. During the Colonial and Revolutionary 
Wars there were frequent fortifications in these few miles, of which 
the one at Half -Way Brook was the most important, as it stood about 
midway between Fort Edward and Fort WiUiam Henry. The New 
York State Historical Association has erected a large bronze tablet 
at the corner of Glen Street and Glenwood Avenue, marking Half- 
Way Brook, Fort Amherst, and the Seven Mile Post. The inscrip- 
tions on this tablet are as follows : 

[70] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

HALF-WAY BROOK 
So called because midway between Forts Edward and William 
Henry. From 1755 to 1780 it was the scene of many bloody 
skirmishes, surprises and ambushes. Here the French and 
Indians inflicted two horrible massacres, one in the summer of 
1756 and the other in July, 1758. 

FORT AMHERST 
A noted military post midway between this marker and the 
brickyard. Its site was known locally as ''The Garrison 
Grounds." The location was used as a fortified camp, 1757- 
1758. The fort was built in 1759. It was occupied by the 
forces of Baron Riedesel in the Burgoyne Campaign of 1777. 
It was burned in 1780 in the Carleton Raid at the time of the 
Northern Invasion. 

THE SEVEN-MILE POST 
Was a blockhouse with stockaded enclosure, occupying the 
rise of ground north of the Brook and west of the road from 
1755 to Revolutionary times. During that period it was one 
of the most important halting places in North America. 

HAMILTON, ALEXANDER, classed by many as the greatest 
of American statesmen, was married in the Schuyler mansion, 
still standing at the head of Schuyler Street, Albany, on Dec. 4, 
1780, to EUzabeth Schuyler, the daughter of Gen. PhiUp Schuyler. 
They had met while Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton, then on the 
staff of General Washington, was engaged in the difficult and deli- 
cate task of obtaining troops from General Gates after the Burgoyne 
campaign. She survived her husband's murder, at the hands of 
Aaron Burr, for half a century. (See Schuyler Family.) 

HARBOR ISLAND MASSACRE. On the evening of July 25, 
1757, a scouting party of three or four hundred EngUsh, under Col. 
John Parker, left Fort WiUiam Henry and proceeded about half 
way down Lake George to what are now called Harbor Islands, 
where the next morning at dawn they were set upon by Indians. 
One hundred and thirty-one EngUsh were killed outright, twelve 
only escaped, and the remainder were taken prisoners. Six days 
after, Montcalm and his army, on their way up the lake to the 
capture and massacre of Fort WiUiam Henry, saw the boats and 
mutUated bodies floating on the water. 

HARTE, BRET, was born in Albany, August 25, 1839. His 
father, a teacher in Albany Female Academy, died leaving Uttle 
property; and when the future noveUst was only fifteen, he went 
with his mother to California, of which he eventuaUy became the 
first and best known Uterary exponent. 

[711 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

HENDRICK, "KING," a Mohawk chief, was kiUed near the 
Williams Monument (q.v.), September 8, 1755. (See Battle of 
Lake George.) He was very eloquent, and had great influence over 
his people. On the morning of the engagement in which he was 
killed the old chief made a speech to his warriors, which was so 
animated and his gestures so expressive that Massachusetts 
officers listened in admiration, although they could not understand 
a word. He rode at the head of the column; but almost at the 
first onslaught his horse was shot, and the old man was killed with 
a bayonet as he attempted to rise. Hendrick was a great debater, 
and at the Congress of 1754 (q. v.), where part of the business was 
to conclude a treaty with the Six Nations, he made a famous speech, 
upbraiding the British generals for overcautious tardiness and 
lack of military spirit. A statue of himself and Gen. Sir William 
Johnson, his close friend, surmounts the Lake George Battle Monu- 
ment, a short distance south of Fort WiUiam Henry Hotel. 

HERKIMER'S ORDER, GENERAL, for troops to go to Fort 
Edward, has thus been handed down, indicating that the gallant 
hero of Oriskany could much better fight the EngUsh than he could 
spell their language: 

"Ser you will orter ynr bodellyen do merchs Tmmiedietlih do 
ford edward weid for das brofiesen and amonieschen fied for 
on betteU. Dis yu will disben yur berrell from frind Nicolas 
herchheimer. To Carnel pieder bellinger, ad de plats, ochdober 
18, 1776." 

(Sir: You will order your battalion to march immediately 
to Fort Edward, with four days' provision and ammunition 
fit for one battle. This you will disobey at your peril. From 
your friend, Nicholas Herschheimer. To Colonel Peter Bel- 
linger, at the Flats, October 18, 1776.) 

HIAWATHA, *'the chief, of whom the Great Spirit was an 
ancestor, was the founder of the Confederacy of the Five Nations. 
He devoted his long hfe to the good of his people, and finally was 
borne in the flesh to the Happy Hunting Grounds. The writer is 
indebted to As-que-sent-wah, a member of the Onondaga tribe, an 
authority upon Indian local lore, and weU known among white men 
as Edward Winslow Paige, for an account of the tradition which 
fixes the home of Hiawatha at Schonowe (Schenectady). Mr. Paige 
owns the lot at the west end of Union Street on the banks of the 
Brunekill, upon which the castle and residence stood. He points out 
to visitors existing traces of Indian occupation." — Judson S. JLandoUf 
in '' Historic Towns oj the Middle States." 

172] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

HONESDALE, PA., was named after Philip Hone, Mayor of 
New York in 1825-26. He was also first president of the Delaware 
and Hudson. His bust stands in the hall of the New York Mercantile 
Library, of which he was one of the founders. 

HOWE, GEORGE AUGUSTUS LORD VISCOUNT, a brigadier- 
general attached to the staff of General Abercrombie (see Aber- 
crombie'a Expedition), holds one of the most unique positions in the 
history of the Colonial wars. His was the master mind of that ill- 
starred enterprise, and in his death the British Army received a 
handicap from which it did not recover until Lord Jeffrey Amherst 
assumed command in 1759. (See Fort Ticonderoga.) In Howe alone, 
of all the British officers of rank during the French and Indian War, do 
we find any appreciation of the Colonial troops and of the methods of 
border warfare. Howe had accompanied Rogers and Stark upon 
scouting expeditions, leaving behind his gaudy uniform of a British 
officer and wearing the less conspicuous dress of the Rangers. Con- 
trary to the universal custom of the officers of the regular army, he 
gave up those luxuries with which they endeavored to smround 
themselves in the midst of the wilderness, in spite of difficulties of 
transportation. He adapted himself to the conditions of the coimtry, 
and worked at all times to have the regular troops conform to those 
conditions and co-operate with the provincials. By both sides he 
was respected and loved for his abihty and personahty, and by the 
Colonial troops he was especially idohzed as the only officer who 
reahzed their value. 

Lord Howe fell at the first fire in Abercrombie's advance against 
Ticonderoga, July 6, 1758. The place of his burial has been much 
discussed by historians. The view commonly accepted is that his 
body was conveyed to Albany by his young friend, Gen. Phihp 
Schuyler, and buried in old St. Peter's Church, that stood in the 
middle of State Street. Forty-four years later, when that edifice 
was demolished, his remains were supposedly deposited under the 
chancel of the second St. Peter's. In 1859 this building gave way 
to the present structure, and a coffin, believed to be Lord Howe's, 
was then enclosed within a brick waU that forms part of the founda- 
tion of the vestibule. Another version is that he was buried near 
the field of battle at Ticonderoga. Color is lent to this by the find- 
ing of what is known as the Lord Howe Stone, which was discovered 
by Peter DuShane, a laborer, while digging a trench in Ticonderoga 
Village, October 3, 1889, and now preserved in the Black Watch 
Memorial (q. v.). The inscription on it reads: *'MEM OF LO 

[731 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

HOWE KILLED TROUT BROOK." This has led many to beUeve 
that Lord Howe was buried at Ticonderoga. Bones found interred 
with the Lord Howe Stone are now buried in Academy Park, at 
Ticonderoga Village. (See Boulder to the Heroes of the Four 
Nations.) 

HUDSON RIVER was "The Great North River of the New 
Netherlands, by some called the Manhattes, from the people who 
dwelt near its mouth; by others also Rio de Montagne, or River of 
the Mountain; by some also Nassau; but by our own countrymen 
generally the Great River." — De Laet: Nieuwe Werelt, Amsterdam, 
1625. Its highest sources are found in Indian Pass, in the heart 
of the Great Peaks, and in Lake Tear of the Clouds, a tiny body of 
water nestling in a hoUow almost at the summit of Mt. Marcy. 
In its southward journey it receives nearly every water flowing on 
the eastern and southern slope of the Adirondacks, until below 
Glens Falls it has swelled to form an important Unk in that wonderful 
water route from New York to Montreal. From its mouth north- 
ward it offered during the early struggles of the Revolution a strategic 
belt, which, if held in connection with the historic highway at the 
north, would cut the united Colonies in two and end the rebellion. 
The plan of the British to control the Hudson was practically con- 
summated, but their reverse came along the bitterly contested 
northern lakes. ^ 

INDIAN OCCUPATION. Though history and tradition hold no 
record of any permanent Indian settlements along Lake Cham- 
plain, there are, nevertheless, abundant evidences to be found that 
at times far antedating the advent of Champlain in 1609 the Indians 
for brief periods occupied camp sites beside the lake and along the 
shores of some of the streams which flow into it. These evidences 
consist of the remains of stone implements, bits of pottery and pipes, 
arrow-heads, and spear-heads. Few graves have been found, and 
there are no earthworks or mounds. A few copper spear-heads, 
hatchets and gouges have been jdiscovered, but these were all 
surface or field finds, no copper reUcs having been obtained from 
any of the camp sites. 

Farther south, along the Susquehanna Division of the Delaware 
and Hudson, chiefly in Albany, Schoharie and Otsego counties, the 
Indian occupation was more permanent. A large number of sites 
has been discovered there, some with earthworks and mounds, and 
many of them have yielded abundant relics. 

[74] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

Relics are still to be found by careful search at many of the places 
where camps were located. These sites, as recorded by Beauchamp 
in "Aboriginal Occupation of New York," are as follows: 

CLINTON COUNTY 

1. At the north end of Upper Chateaugay Lake, on the east 

side of the outlet. 

2. On the west shore of Lake Champlain, north of Rouse's 

Point. 

3. At Coopers ville, in the town of Champlain and east of 

Chazy River. 

4. Two sites on the lake shore at the commencement and end 

of Point au Fer. 

5. Four sites on the lake shore in the town of Champlain, 

from King's Bay to the south Hne of the town. 

6. On the lake shore near the north line of the town of 

Chazy, north of the mouth of Little Chazy River. 

7. Two sites on the south shore of Monty Bay, in Beekman- 

town. 

8. On the north shore of Tredwell Bay, in Beekmantown. 

9. A site north of East Beekmantown. 

10. A site west of Woodruff Pond, and two between it and 

Lake Champlain, near the north line of the town of 
Plattsburg. 

11. Four sites at the head of Cumberland Bay in the town of 

Plattsburg. 

12. A site about half way along the outside shore of Cum- 

berland Head. 

13. One in the city of Plattsburg on the shore of Cumberland 

Bay, north of the Saranac River. 

14. One in the town of Plattsburg, a mile east of Morrisonville, 

and on the northeast side of Saranac River. 

15. One south of the Salmon River at Fredenburg Falls. 

16. On the shore of Lake Champlain, in the town of Platts- 

burg, is a site south of a small creek and north of Bluff 
Point. There are also two sites between Bluff Point 
and a small stream on the south. 

17. A site is on the lake shore at the mouth of Salmon River, 

close to the south Hne of the town of Plattsburg. 

18. A site on the west shore of Valcour Island, south of a 

projecting point. 

19. A site in the town of Saranac, near the east line. It is 

south of the Saranac River, and one and one-half miles 
southwest of Elsinore. 

20. In the town of Schuyler Falls, one and one-half miles 

southwest of Morrisonville. 

[75] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

21. On the Salmon River, near the south line of the town of 

Schuyler Falls, a mile east of the village of Schuyler 
Falls. 

22. On the lake shore, near Valcour in Peru. 

23. In the town of Peru, near the mouth of Little Ausable River. 

24. Three between the Little Ausable River and the Ausable. 

25. On the end of Ausable Point in Peru. 

26. On the Little Ausable, haK a mile north of Harkness, near 

the north line of the town of Ausable. 

27. Southeast of Ferrona in the town of Ausable, north of the 

river and east of the railroad. Another south of Arnold 
Hill, west of Ferrona. 

28. There is a workshop, a half an acre in extent, a mile north 

of the Little Ausable, and west of Arnold Hill. 

ESSEX COUNTY 
Beauchamp states that there were no important sites in Essex 
county, but many traces of early and late passage. He mentions 
but three locations, with his authority for them. 

1. The vestiges of Indian occupation in North Elba and the 

territory around the interior lakes leave no doubt that 
at some former time they congregated there in great 
numheTS.— Watson: History of Essex County. A sup- 
posed recent village has been reported at North Elba. 
— Smith: History of Essex County. 

2. Arrow-heads, etc., were abundant at EUzabethtown. — 

Smith: History of Essex County. 

3. Large arrow-heads, pestles, mortars, chisels, gouges, knives, 

axes and pottery occur in the north part of Ticonderoga, 
"along the creek, the flats of Trout Brook, and espe- 
cially near the rapids at the head of the outlet." Recent 
articles were also abundant. — Smith: History of Essex 
County. 

WARREN COUNTY 
Warren county was mainly a land of passage with many camps 
and few villages. 

1. Toward the head of Lake George, on Dunham's Bay, was 

a small camp, and another was located on Van Wormer's 
Bay, though with but few relics. Most of these sites are 
mentioned in the History of the Town of Queensbury, 
hy A.W. H olden. 

2. Abundant rehcs occur at "Old Bill Harris's Camp," Harri- 

sena. There are several small sites along the creek lead- 
ing to Dunham's Bay. 

[76] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

S Several smaU sites extending over a square mile^ and 
LcTud^g Round Pond and a small creek near it, m the 
town SVeensbury. Early relics and an unexplored 
mound in the creek bottom. 

4 Several sites in an area of one and one-half miles ea^t 
along the outlet of Glen Lake, m Queensbm-y One 
small site on the south Bide of the lake. 

5 Large site on high ground, beside the inlet of Glen Lake. 
6*. A large and early viUage site with some smaUer ones along 

the brook flowing into Glen Lake. ^ 

7. Two sites, historic and prehistoric covering about six 
acres and havmg many rehcs, are located on both sides 
of the bS bend at the rifts of the Hudson River. Frag- 
ments of%ottery are scattered all over the county on 
both sides of the Hudson. 

SARATOGA COUNTY 

1 A cemetery is reported on the south bank of the Sacandaga, 
^' in the to^ of Edinburg, but is really m the town of 

■Do^y— French: Gazetteer of New York. 

2 Near the miU pond on SnookkiU in Wilton were early camps 
or a village -Frenc/i: Gazetteer of New^ York 

There was I sito at Saratoga Village with early relics 
Early relics are found on the camp sites on the flats at 
fIvItogih^ke.-Storie:RermriiscencesofS^^^^^^ 

7 Th^ w~m;^s1S'Xng Fish Creek from Saratoga 
Lake to SchuylervUle. One very large one is near the 

8. Th"re" wks a large camp four miles from the mouth of 

9 A Scen?c^'p or village site was located on "Arrowhead 
Farm "This is on I hiU west of Saratoga Lake, a mile 

10 ThTet a°Uge an^Jfong occupied site at Round Lake, with 

eilvreUcs There are smaller sites on the inlet 

11 The?e wS a cache of flints in Charlton on the east side of 

ConSsVlaie. Pottery is found on most sites. Arrow- 
heads occurTn aU plowed land from Bemis Heights to 
Wilber's Basin. 

WASHINGTON COUNTY 
Like Warren county this was a land of passage, and many scattered 
implements have been found. The known sites are as foUows: 
1. Site east of Cossayuna Lake with fine reUcs. 

177] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

2. A similar small site near Cambridge. 

3, Several interesting sites near Smith's Basin, south of Fort 

Ann, with much debris and some large caches of chipped 
implements. 

ALBANY COUNTY 

Trails led from the Hudson to the western streams, and along 
these scattered relics are found, but there were no villages of impor- 
tance. In the State Museum are arrow-heads from Bethlehem, 
Guilderland, Loudon ville and Water vUet, and ceremonial objects 
from Albany and Bethlehem. The principal trail was from Sche- 
nectady to Albany, and surface finds have been made in the sand- 
fields between Schenectady and Karners. 

1. An Iroquois castle was on an island at the mouth of the 

Mohawk, as shown on Van Rensselaer's map of 1630. 

2. A large camp site is near the arsenal at Watervhet, one 

hundred rods from the river. Thick spears, arrow-heads, 
scrapers, net sinkers and a few ceremonial stones are 
found. 

3. There was much cleared land at Albany. Father Jogues 

wrote in 1664 that the Dutch "found some pieces of 
ground all ready, which the savages had formerly 
prepared." 

4. The Mohawks afterward had a fishing place at Cohoes, 

according to De Vries. 

SCHOHARIE COUNTY 

1. A stone-heap near SloansviUe was noticed by Rev. Gideon 

Hawley, in 1753. Every Indian cast a stone on it in 
passing and his guide did the same. The heap was four 
rods long, one or two wide, and from ten to fifteen feet 
high. It has been obhterated. — Simms: History of 
Schoharie County. 

2. A mound on Shingler's land, near the cemetery south of 

SloansviUe, was on the east side of the road to Central 
Bridge. A workshop extended into the cemetery.^ There 
is also a recent Indian cemetery on the same side, on 
Albert L. Fisher's farm. This has headstones. A vil- 
lage site and workshop are on the east toward the creek. 

3. There was a workshop at the base of the lower Helderberg 

group, fifty rods west of the bridge over Schoharie Creek. 
In this are perfect and unfinished knives and arrow and 
spear heads. — Smithsonian Report, 1879. There was 
also a workshop north and west of the _ depot at 
Schoharie, and another west of the creek and fair grounds. 

4. At Grovenor Corners was a recent camp by a ledge of 

rocks. — Smithsonian Report, 1879. 

[78] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

5 A square stockade was built for the Indians on Vrooman's 

land by Sir William Johnson. It had two blockhouses 
at opposite corners. There is a burial place here. A 
village and stockade were east of the creek and opposite 
the next mentioned. The Schoharies had a village and 
stockade west of the creek on Henry Vrooman s land.— 
Simms: History of Schoharie County. 

6 Another village and cemetery was on the Snyder farm, 

several miles south of the fort mentioned m No. 5.— 
Simms: History of Schoharie County. 

7 There was a recent cemetery on the river near Fultonham. 

—Simms: History of Schoharie County. 

8 A Mohegan village was at the mouth of Little Schoharie 

Creek, in Middleburg. This had a stockade, and all 
four forts were within four miles of the court-house.— 
Simms: History of Schoharie County. 

OTSEGO COUNTY 

1 The Iroquois had httle to do with Otsego county until 
recent times, and the few sites are of minor importance . 
Most of those about Richfield Springs are taken from 
Richfield Springs and Vicinity, by W. T. Bailey. 
An oblong mound, often visited by the Oneidas, was 
reputed to be the grave of a chief and was m Mr. Hop- 
kinson's orchard in that town. A recent cemetery was 
on a ridge opposite the Lake House. Three skeletons 
were found near that house and a cache of tlint articles 
near the lake. Several sites on Oak Ridge, west of the 
lake, haK a mile from the head, had early articles. In 
grading near the bridge east of this ridge, skeletons were 
found with flat stones over the faces.— Bailey. 

2 Francis W. Halsey says that the first settlers in Coopers- 
town found arrow-heads and stone axes m great abun- 
dance. This is the statement in J. F. Coopers Chronicles 
of Cooverstown. There is a supposed sepulchral mound 
at that place, on the east side of the Susquehanna. 

3. Several camp sites with early rehcs have been reported at 

the northwest end of Otsego Lake. 

4. An Indian mound was discovered at Oneonta. 

5. Mr. Halsey says that on the Susquehanna, west of the 

mouth of the Charlotte River, was an Indian orchard, 
and a mound on an adjacent island was called the grave 
of Kagatinga, a chief. Vetal Winn reports an early site ot 
three or four acres in the angle made by the south side 
of the Charlotte River with the Susquehanna, f ottery 
is found there. Articles from this spot were m the nne 
collection destroyed in the burning of the Uneonta 
Normal School. 

[79] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

6. The ancient Unadilla was burned in 1778, as a result of 

Sullivan's Expedition (q. v.), and was at the junction 
of the UnadiUa with the Susquehanna, on both sides of 
the river. 

7. It is stated upon very good authority that an ancient 

earthwork once existed near Unadilla. — Squier: An- 
tiquities of New York. It is also stated that an Indian 
monument of a conical form, ten feet high, once stood 
in this town. — Barber: Historical Collections^ of New 
York. Mr. Halsey also mentions this, a mile below 
Unadilla, on the north side of the river, as a heap of 
stones on which the Indians cast a stone as they passed. 

8. Halsey says that there was also a mound in which relics 

were found, but which was probably natural, on the 
north side of the Susquehanna. 

9. A rather large village with an apple orchard was at the 

mouth of Otego Creek. Arrow-heads and sinkers are 
found. 

10. A large site between Schenevus Creek and the Susquehanna 

River, reported by T. L. Bishop, is thought by him to 
have been Towanoendalough, the first Mohawk town on 
the Susquehanna, visited by Rev. Gideon Hawley in 
1753. It is near, and a Httle east of ColUersville. The 
prehistoric reUcs far outnumber the recent, so that 
there were at least two occupations. It is on the north 
side of Schenevus Creek and covers from ten to fifteen 
acres. On the west side of the river arrow-heads, 
hammer-stones and flint chips occur. 

11. A camp site is two miles north of CoUiersville and east of 

the river. Triangular arrow-heads and broken and per- 
fect earthenware are found. 

12. A recent site is one-fourth mile south of Portland ville, 

east of the river. It has rude and early implements. 

13. A small site three miles north of Portlandville, east of the 

river, has also early rehcs. 

14. Early rehcs are scattered about near the confluence of 

Cherry Valley Creek and the Susquehanna, a mile east 
of Miiford. 

15. Early rehcs are also found on a camping ground of five 

acres, a mile north of Miiford, west of the river. 

16. Arrow-heads are found on camps one-half mile below 

Phoenix Mills, east of the river. 

17. Niskajoma Rock is a large boulder two miles north of 

Middlefield, on the west side of Cherry Valley Creek. 
It is a reputed rendezvous, with some rehcs. 

18. An early camp is on the Coats farm, one-haK mile south of 

Roseboom, on the west side of Cherry Valley Creek. 

ISO] 




HIGH ROCK SPRING IN 1845 




SARATOGA AS IT IS TODAY 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

19. Camp site with abundant arrow-heads at Schenevus Lake, 

a mile southwest of Schenevus. 

20. A email camp site lies a mile west of Maryland, north of 

the creek. 

21. A camp is located on the west side of the river, two miles 

below CoUiersville. Rude implements and an engraved 
banner stone have been found. 

22. A large camp, three miles above Oneonta, on the west side, 

was an early site. A similar camp is opposite. These 
are above the camp at No. 5. 

23. An early and extensive camp is found two miles below 

Oneonta, north of the river. Arrow-heads and pestles 
occur as on most local early sites. 

24. Perfect pottery has been found near Otsego, on the east 

bank of Otsdawa Creek. 

25. A large camp has been located two miles north of Otsego, 

east of and near the creek. 

26. There is a camp on the Matlin farm, one and one-half miles 

north of Garrettsville, east of Butternut Creek, which 
contains early rehcs. 

27. A camp with early rehcs on the west side of Butternut 

Creek, two miles south of Morris, is on Jerome Lull's 
farm. Pestles are found on nearly all the above sites. 

INDIAN PASS is cut deep in the chain of the Great Peaks, 
between Mt. Mclntyre and Wallface. It is a tremendous chasm, 
upward of a mile in length, from the bottom of whose gorge the per- 
pendicular side of Wallface towers a thousand feet into the blue of 
the sky. From its northern side the water of the Ausable takes its 
start for the St. Lawrence. But a few minutes' walk on its southern 
slope are found the first faint trickles of the Hudson. They flow 
downward along the bottom of the gorge, for the most part out of 
sight beneath the mass of titanic boulders that have been hurled 
from the mountain-sides or dropped there by the grinding glaciers 
that once covered the country. Here and there one may reach them 
by cHmbing into dark and chilly caverns. They are icy cold to the 
hand and clear as crystal. To the superstitious mind of the Iroquois, 
Indian Pass appealed with tremendous force. No warrior dared to be 
caught there after dark, for it was the home of the Go-nos-gwah, 
the stonish giants of Iroquois fable, who Hved upon human flesh. 
There also was Da-yoh-je-ga-go, "The Place Where the Storm Clouds 
Meet in Battle with the Great Serpents." Another designation was 
He-no-da-wa-da, "Pass of the Thunders.'' In spite of its terrors, the 
Pass was largely used by the Indians, as it offered ready transit 

[81] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

between favorite sections of their hunting ground. Today it is one 
of the most beautiful and unspoiled sections of the Adirondack 
forest, and an objective for wilderness travelers up the valley 
of the Hudson from North Creek or southward from Lake Placid. 

INDIAN TRAILS. Two trails led from Lake Champlain into 
the Mohawk Valley. One started at Ticonderoga and passed through 
Lake George. Thence it ran across country, passing the Hudson 
not far west of Glens Falls, and proceeded through the towns of 
Moreau and Wilton, turning west through the pass south of Mt. 
McGregor, at Stile's Tavern, over near Lake Desolation. It con- 
tinued southwest through Galway, and thence into the Mohawk 
Valley, a little west of Amsterdam. This was called the Kaya- 
drosseras Trail. 

The other started at Whitehall, and led thence to Fort Edward, 
down the Hudson to Schuylerville, up Fish Creek to Saratoga 
Lake, and then up the Kayadrosseras River to MourningkiH. From 
there was a carry to Ballston Lake, and another to Eel Creek, 
down which the route ran to the Mohawk. This was called the 
Saratoga Trail. 

Everywhere through the Adirondack Mountains ran other trails, 
some of them scarcely perceptible from httle use, while others were 
worn deep into the soft covering of the forest floor. They followed 
the banks of streams or cut through the wilderness from lake to 
lake. Probably the most important was that through Indian Pass, 
connecting, as it did, the whole territory of the upper Hudson 
with the beautiful Keene Valley. Some of these trails have become 
modern highways and State roads. Others are the logging roads of 
lumbermen, following lines of least resistance and ending usually 
upon some waterway. Even the hunting trails are still kept open 
in some places, their twists and turns marked for the uninitiated 
by blazes upon the trees. The abrasions of steel-studded campers' 
shoes make them easier to foUow than of old. 

IRON DAM. The scene of one of the earhest attempts to 
wrest fortunes from the heart of the Adirondack wilderness is 
located at the foot of Indian Pass, between Lake Henderson and 
Lake Sanford. In 1826 an old Indian of the Saint Francis tribe, 
named Sabele, approached David Henderson, one of the proprietors 
of an iron-works at North Elba, on the Ausable, and showed him 
a lump of high-grade iron ore, saying that he obtained it where 
water ran over an iron dam. He thereupon took Mr. Henderson 

[82] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

and a party to a point just below Lake Henderson, where the outlet 
of the lake ran over a dam of rich iron ore on its way to Lake Sanford. 
Mr. Henderson and his associates subsequently erected extensive 
iron- works at the spot. The difficulties of transportation, however, 
fifty miles through the wilderness to Lake Champlain, were too 
great, and upon the death of Mr. Henderson, the moving spirit, 
who accidently shot himseK at Calamity Pond on the shoulder 
of Mount Marcy some years later, the enterprise was abandoned, 
though the property is still held by the Mclntyre Iron Works. 
Now the ruined furnaces Hft their chimneys above the tree-tops, 
objects of wonder and surprise to every traveler in that remote 
section of the woods. 

IROQUOIS, or Five (afterward Six) Nations, consisted of the 
Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas, to which in 
1715 were added the Tuscaroras from the south. Under their 
traditional leader, Hiawatha, these tribes formed a league which 
exists among their remnants to the present day. They occupied 
central New York, and were surrounded on all sides by tribes 
chiefly of Algonquin (q.v.) stock, against whom they waged con- 
tinual war. In the French and Enghsh wars they were alHed with 
the Enghsh. At the outbreak of the Revolution, while the league, 
as such, declared for neutrahty, each tribe was allowed to act for 
itself. With the exception of the Oneidas, and part of the Tuscaroras, 
they sided against the Americans. The Mohawks and Cayugas 
followed their great chief. Brant, to Canada, where they settled. 
(See UnadiUa.) 

ISLE LAC DU ST. SACREMENT, the largest of the Mother 
Bunch group and the most northern of the large islands in Lake 
George, has been dehvered into the custody of the New York State 
Historical Association by the State of New York. Originally known 
by another name, it now perpetuates the original designation which 
Father Isaac Jogues (q.v.) apphed to Lake George in 1646. The 
Association has planned untimately to erect a suitable memorial to 
the martyred missionary, who was the first white man to behold the 
mountain-framed loveHness of the "Lake-That-Shuts-Itself-In." 

ISLE LA MOTTE, bulking impressively in the northern waters 
of Lake Champlain, just west of the Hero Islands, has a record aa 
thrilling with vital human interest as one will find anywhere in the 
pages of our national history. Lying squarely beside the highway 
through the Gate of the Country, it witnessed every passing expedi- 

[831 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

tion, and received most of them upon its shores for longer or shorter 
periods. Its strategic and most frequented spot was Sandy Point, 
which projects into the lake near the northwestern corner of the 
island. Here was located Fort St. Anne (q. v.), and here the Jesuits 
erected the Shrine of St. Anne and celebrated mass in 1666. Thus 
Isle La Motte was the seat of the first organized Christian effort in 
the Champlain Valley. Isle La Motte was " the convenient stopping- 
place for miUtary and naval expeditions as weU as a port for pas- 
senger steamers, for many years running through the lake, and has 
been visited by civil, military and naval oflEicers of three nations and 
such distinguished personages as Peter Kakn in 1749, and quite 
likely by Charles Dickens in 1842, and later by President WiUiam 
McKinley and Col. Theodore Roosevelt while Vice-President, and 
many others. Viceroy de Tracy, M. de Chazy, Bishop de Laval and 
others were here at various times in the Seventeenth Century. Capt. 
John Schuyler, on his return from his military expedition to Canada, 
spent here the night of August 24, 1690. Maj. Peter Schuyler 
in his journal describes his trip through the lake with his flotilla of 
canoes manned by 266 whites and Indians in the year 1691, and his 
advance to 'Fort La Motte several years deserted' on the 26th of 
August, where he remained over night. Capt. John Schuyler 
stopped near this fort on his mission to Canada in September, 1698. 
This island was included in the grant by the Governor of Canada, 
M. de Beauharnois, to Sieur Pean, major of the town and castle of 
Quebec, on April 10, 1733. It was also included in the French 
seignory granted to Sieur Bedou, Counsellor in the Superior Council 
of Quebec in 1752. Canadians were attacked on this point (Sandy 
Point) by the savages in 1694 or 1695, and French settlers were put 
to death here in 1746 and others were taken prisoners by the Indians. 
We know not the extent of the martyrdom nor of the savage persecu- 
tion that has been suffered on this soil which has been made sacred 
by the shedding of human blood. 

"In 1775 Gen. Phihp Schuyler and Brig.-Gen. Richard Mont- 
gomery met here on their way to Quebec, where the brave 
Montgomery afterward lost his life. In 1776 Arnold's fleet lay at 
anchor off this island, from August 8th to August 19th, from which 
he made an ofl&cial report. 

"Over at yonder Point au Fer, within view of this Point, was 
stationed, in 1775, a large body of Americans, and that point was 
fortified by General Sullivan in 1776. It fell into the possession of 
General Burgoyne in 1777, and was occupied by the British until 

[84] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

1788, five years after the Treaty of Peace. Farther to the north may 
be seen Windmill Point, where was held an International Council 
in 1766 to consider the location of the boundary line between New 
York and Quebec and to hear the arguments of the French claimants 
to seignories on Lake Champlain. The boundary was fixed in 1768. 
There it was that Arnold on August 6, 1776, encountered Indians in 
the British service. 

"Isle La Motte was settled in 1785 by Ebenezer Hyde, Enoch 
Hall and WiUiam Blanchard, and organized into a township in 1790, 
a year before Vermont was admitted into the Union and while it was 
an independent republic. This island was occupied by the British 
in the War of 1812; and Captain Pring erected a battery of three 
long eighteen-pounders on the west shore on September 4, 1814, 
'to cover the landing of the supphes for the troops.' " — Henry Way- 
land Hillf at Champlain Tercentenary Celebration. 

• 

JOGUES, ISAAC (1607-1646), the discoverer of Lake George, 
was a French Jesuit missionary, whose recorded devotion to 
the cause for which he labored has never been excelled in the history 
of martyrdom. Coming to Canada, he was sent to labor among the 
Hurons. While traveling with them, they fell into an ambush and 
were captured by the Mohawks. Father Jogues could have escaped, 
but surrendered in order to be near the wounded and dying. As 
the chief Frenchman in the party, he was subjected to terrible 
tortures, his finger-nails being torn out by the roots, and other out- 
rages being heaped upon him. The Iroquois with their captives then 
started for the villages on the Mohawk, and at an island in Cole Bay, 
just below Westport, on the western side of Lake Champlain, en- 
countered another large war party. There, on what is now known as 
Jogues's Island, the captives were compelled to run the gauntlet and to 
furnish other savage and painful amusement for the Iroquois. 
Running the gauntlet he characterized as "a narrow road to Para- 
dise." This was repeated several times in the villages along the 
Mohawk River. Once, in the midst of his agony, Jogues baptised 
two candidates with drops of dew on a cornstalk thrown him by an 
Indian. Frequently he received confessions of his converts as they 
were burning at the stake. Finally, after much suffering and many 
indignities, he succeeded in escaping through the efforts of the 
Dutch settlers at Fort Orange, some of whom risked their lives in 
his behalf. He returned to France, but could not control his desire 
to renew his labors; and, having received a special dispensation 

[851 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

from Pope Innocent XI to celebrate the mass with mutilated hands, 
came back to Montreal. It was while on a mission to the Mohawks 
that he passed through Lake George again, naming it Lac du Saint 
Sacrement, and stopping on the way at Fort Orange (Albany) to 
thank the Dutchmen who had succored him. This time he was 
kindly received by the Mohawks; but on his return in the following 
October (1646) he was charged with being a sorcerer, the Indians 
attributing a scourge of caterpillars and an epidemic to a chest 
of vestments he had left with them. They began his execution 
by shcing flesh from his arms and back, a torture that he bore 
with such calm remonstrance as to have some effect. While a 
council was being held to decide his fate, he was invited to supper, 
when in the darkness an Indian struck him Ufeless at a single blow. 
His faithful companion, a young Frenchman named Lalande, was 
also killed. Their heads were fixed on a palisade and their bodies 
thrown into the Mohawk. Since his death miracles have been 
attributed to Father Jogues, and the site of his martyrdom having 
been identified, a chapel was erected there, at Auriesville, on the 
Mohawk, in 1884. 

JOHNSON'S EXPEDITION. Following the treaty of Aix-la- 
Chapelle in 1748, the French proceeded systematically to strengthen 
their position on the frontier of New France. Alarmed by these 
activities. Colonial troops from several of the provinces were dis- 
patched against Fort St. Frederic at Crown Point in the summer 
of 1755. They were commanded by Gen. Sir William Johnson 
(q.v.). Massachusetts had most men enlisted in the venture, but 
out of policy it was thought wise to appoint a commander from some 
other colony, and Johnson of New York was selected. At that 
time Johnson had never seen service and knew httle about war, 
but he was highly esteemed by the Five Nations, many of whom 
accompanied him on this expedition. 

**In July (1755)," says Parkman, *'about three thousand pro- 
vincials were encamped near Albany, some on the flats above the 
town, and some on the meadows below. Hither, too, came a swarm 
of Johnson's Mohawks — warriors, squaws and children. They 
adorned the general's face with war-paint, and he danced the war- 
dance; then with his sword he cut the first sHce from the ox that 
had been roasted whole for their entertainment. *I shall be glad,' 
wrote the surgeon of a New England regiment, 'if they fight as 
eagerly as they eat and drink.'" 

[86] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

Johnson's second in command was Gen. Phinehas Lyman of 
Connecticut, who proceeded up the Hudson to the present site of 
Fort Edward, where he erected defences, which he named Fort 
Lyman. There Johnson joined him in August and advanced to 
Lake George, leaving Lyman with a part of the troops at Fort 
Lyman. Meanwhile Baron Dieskau had come up Lake Champlain 
from Montreal with a considerable force, landing at the further 
end of the Great Carrying Place on South Bay in Lake Champlain. 
From there he advanced towards Fort Lyman, but at the last moment 
changed his plans and directed his course to the head of Lake 
George, where Johnson had encamped. Learning of Dieskau's 
advance from South Bay towards Fort Lyman, Johnson dispatched 
Col. Ephraim Williams with a detachment, and the Mohawks 
under King Hendrick, to the aid of the fort. They had scarcely 
left the head of Lake George, however, when they were ambushed 
by Dieskau, and the encounter known as the Bloody Morning Scout 
(q. V.) took place. Other conflicts occurred throughout the day, 
the whole series of engagements being known as the Battle of Lake 
George (q. v.). The French forces were badly beaten, and retired, 
leaving Dieskau wounded and a prisoner in Johnson's camp. With- 
out following up his advantages, Johnson devoted the remainder 
of the summer to building Fort William Henry, thus giving the 
French an opportunity to strengthen their defences at Crown 
Point and to begin the construction of Fort Ticonderoga. Johnson 
was succeeded in command by Gen. John Winslow. Thus his expe- 
dition had served but to draw closer the Hues of French and English, 
in preparation for the campaigns of Montcalm, Abercrombie and 
Amherst, which followed during the four succeeding years. 

It was upon his arrival at the site of Fort William Henry that 
Johnson changed the name of Lac du Saint Sacrement to Lake 
George, "not only in honor of His Majesty, but to ascertain his 
undoubted dominion here." 

JOHNSON, SIR WILLIAM, who commanded the Enghsh 
colonists in an expedition against Crown Point (see Johnson's 
Expedition) in 1755, was one of the most picturesque characters 
of the period preceding the Revolution. He was born in Ireland 
in 1715, coming to America in 1738 as superintendent of the property 
of his uncle, Sir Peter Warren, located in the Mohawk Valley. 

1871 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

"Dealing honestly with the Indians and learning their language, 
he became a great favorite with them. He conformed to their 
manners, and, in time, took Mary, a sister of Brant, the famous 
Mohawk chief, to his home as his wife. When the French and 
Indian War broke out Johnson was made sole Superintendent of 
Indian Affairs, and his great influence kept the Six Nations steadily 
from any favoring of the French. He kept the frontier from injury 
until the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748). In 1750 he was a mem- 
ber of the Provincial Council. He withdrew from his position 
of Superintendent of Indian Affairs in 1753, and was a member of 
the Convention at Albany in 1754. He also attended grand councils 
of the Indians, and was adopted into the Mohawk tribe and made 
a sachem." The year following his expedition against Crown Point 
he was knighted, "and the king gave him the appointment of Super- 
intendent of Indian Affairs in the North; he was also made a 
Colonial agent. He continued in the miHtary service during the 
remainder of the war, and was rewarded by his king with the gift 
of one hundred thousand acres of land north of the Mohawk River, 
which was known as Kingsland, or the Royal Grant. Johnson 
first introduced sheep and blooded horses into the Mohawk Valley. 
Sir WiUiam Johnson married a German girl, by whom he had a 
son and two daughters; also eight children by Mary (or MoUie) 
Brant, who Uved with him until his death. Sir William Uved in 
baronial style and exercised great hospitahty." — Lossing's "Cyclo- 
paedia of United States History." 

The Indians in particular were recipients of his generosity. They 
were constantly feasted at his residence, and he frequently attended 
their pow-wows and celebrations, where he joined in their dances, 
took part in their gluttonous orgies, and conducted himself so 
thoroughly in Indian fashion that he earned and held their very 
highest admiration. 

JUMEL, MADAME (1769-1865), as she was most widely known, 
was for some time a conspicuous resident of Saratoga Springs. 
Born at sea, her mother dying at the time, she was adopted by 
Mrs. Thompson, a Newport lady. She eloped at seventeen to 
marry a British officer, Col. Peter Croix. After many imprudences 
and indiscretions with distinguished men in New York and else- 
where, on widowhood she married Stephen Jumel, a wealthy 
French wine merchant. Removing to Paris, she became a leader 
of fashion under the patronage of Lafayette, spent a great part 

[881 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

of the Jumel fortune, and returning to the United States regained 
as much as she had lost. After Jumel's death she renewed a former 
acquaintance with Aaron Burr, whom she took for her third hus- 
band, when he was seventy-eight. But they soon separated, although 
they were never divorced. This remarkable woman lacked only 
four years of a century when she died in retirement in New York 
City. The house that she made famous there, The Jumel Mansion, 
in the upper part of the city, is now maintained as an historical 
museum. 



LAKE CHAMPLAIN, the largest body of fresh water in the 
United States, aside from the Great Lakes and Lake Okechobee 
in Florida, is a hundred and eighteen miles long, from Whitehall, at 
its south extremity, to the northern end of Missisquoi Bay. It is 
over twelve miles wide in its broadest part, from the mouth of the 
Ausable to Mallett's Bay, above Burlington, and its average width 
is a Uttle over four miles. With the beginning of aboriginal occupa- 
tion of the country, Lake Champlain assumed paramount importance 
both for settlement and as a highway of war. At the time of Cham- 
plain's visit in 1609, the latter use predominated to such an extent 
that it was known among the Iroquois as Can-i-a-de-ri Gua-nm-te, 
"Lake That Is the Gate of the Country," since it opened to them 
the entire territory of their old enemies, the Algonquins, of the 
north. Thereafter, for two hundred years, it was the gate through 
which savage hordes and organized armies surged and resurged, 
intent upon blood and conquest. 

"Standing upon Tahawus," says Benson J. Lossing, "it required 
httle imagination to behold the stately procession of historic men 
and events passing through that open door. First, in dim shadows, 
were the dusky warriors of the ante-Columbian period, darting 
swiftly through in their bark canoes, intent on blood and plunder. 
Then came Champlain with guns and sabers to aid the Hurons 
against the Iroquois; then the French and Indian alUes, led by 
Marin, passing swiftly through that door and sweeping with terrible 
force down the Hudson to smite the Dutch and Enghsh settlers at 
Saratoga. Again came French and Indian warriors, led by Mont- 
calm and Dieskau, to drive the EngHsh from that door and secure it 
for the house of Bourbon. A Uttle later Burgoyne rushed through 
that door, driving Americans southward like chaff before the wind, 
as far as Saratoga. And lastly came another British force. Sir 

[89] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 



TWO OF THE EARLIEST STEAMERS ON 
LAKE CHAMPLAIN 




THE " PHOENIX, " LAUNCHED IN 1815 




THE "GENERAL GREENE," LAUNCHED IN 1825 



[90] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

George Prevost at their head, to take possession of that door, only 
to be turned back at its northern threshold." 

Since then, the Great Recorder of the Days 
Thousands has scrolled upon his golden book; 

Yet still a sheet of shimmering chrysoprase 

The great lake spreads for whomsoe'er may look. 

Behind the peaks that panoply the west 

Still burn the sunsets hke a mighty forge; 

Still, with its voice of wandering unrest, 

The swift Ausable rushes through its gorge. 

Slope capping slope, the awakening east along 

Vermont's broad ranges show their emerald dye; 

And still, their meadows opulent with song 
And glad with grain, the Hero Islands lie. 

Across the water, as it breaks or broods, 

^ In twilight purple, or in dawning gold. 
Majestic from their airy altitudes 

Mansfield and White Face signal as of old. 

For howsoe'er man's genius bares or drapes, 

Or cleaves or curbs by frowning height or shore. 

Nature's sequestered elemental shapes 

Preserve their primal grandeur evermore! 

Grandeur and beauty! — here the twain combine, 
Clothing the landscape with a varied veil; 

And while before our eyes their splendors shine, 

Let the grave Muse of History breathe her tale! 

— Clinton Scollard, at Champlain Tercentenary Celebration. 

LAKE GEORGE, the most beautiful lake in America, is also 
one of the most interesting historically. Father Isaac Jogues (q. v.), 
the Jesuit missionary and martyr, passed through it in 1646 while 
on a mission of peace from the French in Canada to the Mohawks, 
and having entered the north end on the eve of the festival of Corpus 
Christi gave it the name of Lac du St. Sacrement. In 1775 Gen. Sir 
WilKam Johnson changed the name to Lake George, in honor of the 
English King, George II. Cooper, with doubtful Indian authority, 
renamed it Horicon, but outside of his fiction this designation was 
not adopted. By the Iroquois it was called An-di-a-ta-roc-te, 
"There Where The Lake Is Shut In," in reference to its mountain- 
bordered shores. 

The fact that its thirty-two miles of smiUng lovehness formed an 
important section of the great waterway between the Enghsh 
possessions on the south and the French on the north explains the 
location of the sanguinary events that took place in its vicinity 

[91] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

during the French and Indian War. Every mile of its mountain-sides 
have echoed the merciless whoop of savages, and over its cool bosom 
glittering armies have passed, to return crushed by defeat or flushed 
with victory. Today its procession of vacationists far outnumber 
the armies of the past. 

LAKE GEORGE BATTLE GROUND PARK comprises the 
land immediately surrounding the Lake George Battle Monument, 
and includes the ruins of old Fort George. It was set aside as a 
pubUc park by the Legislature of the State of New York, and is in 
the custody of the New York State Historical Association. The 
association has laid a walk to the Battle Monument, and has cleared 
brush and opened paths in the park, thus making this old fighting 
and camping ground easily accessible to the public. 

MACDONOUGH NATIONAL MILITARY PARK. Im- 
mediately following the Battle of Lake Champlain (q. v.) 
and the Battle of Plattsburg (q. v.), on September 11, 1814, a 
hospital was established on Crab Island, about a mile from the main- 
land at Bluff Point, to which the soldiers and sailors wounded in 
both engagements were taken. Both the British and American 
dead were buried on this island, with the exception of the officers, 
the latter being interred in the Plattsburg cemetery. (See^ Downie, 
Capt. George.) The island was recently converted into a National 
MiHtary Park, and a monument has been erected to commemorate 
the land and naval engagements of September 11, 1814, and the 
battle between Benedict Arnold's fleet and the British in 1776. 
(See Battle of Valcour.) The shaft is plainly visible from the 
windows of the trains just south of Plattsburg, from the steamers 
of the Champlain Transportation Company, and from the porch of 
Hotel Champlain. 

McCREA, JANE. In the Union Cemetery, between Fort Edward 
and Sandy Hill, on a spot near the entrance, marked by a plain 
marble stone six feet high, repose the remains of Jane McCrea, whose 
tragic fate has not only been a subject of many a poem, song and 
romance, but, in the opinion of grave historians, had immense in- 
fluence upon the determination of national events. Although the 
accounts have always been varied and contradictory, the facts 
appear to be as follows: 

In the summer of 1777, Jane was Hving with her brother near 
Fort Edward, her father, a clergyman, being dead. She was beauti- 

[921 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

fill, accomplished and specially loved for her sweetness of dispo- 
sition. She is described as a handsome blonde, of large stature, 
finely formed, with red-gold hair, which, when unbound, trailed 
upon the ground. Her lover, David Jones, was an officer in Bur- 
goyne's army (see Burgoyne's Campaign), encamped four miles 
distant. To her he sent a party of Indians, under Duluth, a half- 
breed, to escort her to the British Hues, where they were to be 
married by the chaplain. Meantime another party of Indians, 
also from the British camp, had captured her at the house where 
she was waiting. The two parties met, and there was a dispute as to 
which should claim her, in the midst of which Le Loup, the other 
leader, shot her through the heart, and taking her scalp, carried it 
to the British camp, where the trophy was recognized by the length 
and beauty of the hair. The next day her body was recovered by 
her brother and buried in the camp-ground of the American forces. 

The story of her death aroused the Burrounding country much 
as the Battle of Lexington aroused New England. Her name was 
passed as a note of alarm along the Hudson and through the moun- 
tains of Vermont, causing volunteers to assemble against Burgoyne 
as nothing else had done. Burgoyne himself, shocked at the barbarity 
of his savage alUes, reproved them so severely that many left his 
service. Thus the martyrdom of Jane McCrea contributed in no 
small degree to his immediate defeat and surrender and to the 
beginning of the end of the struggle for American Independence. 

The murder was committed July 27, 1777. On April 23, 1822, 
the remains were removed to the Fort Edward burial-ground, and in 
1852 to the spot where they now repose under the following in- 
scription: *'Here rest the remains of Jane McCrea, age 17, made 
captive and murdered by a band of Indians, while on a visit to a 
relative in the neighborhood, A. D., 1777. To commemorate one of 
the most thrilling incidents in the annals of the Revolution, to do 
justice to the fame of the gallant British officer to whom she was 
affianced, and as a simple tribute to the memory of the departed, 
this stone is erected by her niece, Sarah Hannah Payne, A. D., 1852." 

MASONIC LODGEHOUSE, FIRST, in America, stood on the 
northwest comer of Lodge Street and Maiden Lane, Albany. The 
corner-stone was laid May 12, 1768. The site is now occupied by 
the Masonic Temple. 

MILLS, COL. JOHN (1782-1813), the organizer of the Albany 
Republican ArtUlery, fell at the head of his regiment while repulsing 

193] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

the British at Sackett's Harbor, May 29, 1813. In 1843, his body 
was removed from Watertown, where at first it was buried, to 
Albany, permission having been granted by the legislature to 
deposit the remains in Capitol Park. Its transfer was accom- 
plished amid appropriate military honors at Sackett's Harbor, 
Oswego, Syracuse, Schenectady, Troy and Albany, the military, 
masonic and civic parade in the latter city being the largest that 
had ever been seen there. For nearly forty years the grave in 
Capitol Park was left unmarked, neglected, not to say dishonored ; 
but on May 30, 1883, with another great parade, the dust of the 
old hero was taken to the Rural Cemetery, where the Mills Memorial, 
a bronze eagle perched on thirty feet of towering granite, stands as 
a suitable memorial to his services. 

MONTCALM DE ST. VERAN, St. Joseph, Marquis de, was 
born at the Chateau Candian, near Nismes, France, February 28, 
1712, and died at Quebec September 14, 1759. He entered the 
French army when only fourteen years of age, when his unusual 
abiUty won him rapid promotion. In 1756 he was given command 
of the troops in Canada, where he labored unceasingly, and at 
first with considerable success, for the more stable foundation of 
French authority in the New World. The tide of Enghsh deter- 
mination, however, had reached its flood, and the troops of France 
retreated before it at Ticonderoga in 1759. A few months later, 
on September 13, 1759, Montcalm was mortally wounded in the 
desperate assault of WoKe upon Quebec and died the following 
day. "I am happy," he said, "that I shall not five to see the sur- 
render of Quebec." He was buried under the floor of the chapel 
of the Ursuline Convent in Quebec, where a shell from Wolfe's 
victorious besiegers had made a cavity which had been hollowed 
into a grave. "In his funeral," said Parkman, "was the funeral 
of New France." 

MONTGOMERY'S EXPEDITION. One of the first plans of 
the colonists in the Revolution was the capture of Canada, and in 
accordance with this scheme an expedition was fitted out under 
Gen. PhiHp Schuyler in 1775. Schuyler was taken ill, however, 
and the command devolved upon Gen. Richard Montgomery, 
an officer of long experience in the French and Indian and other 
EngUsh wars. Proceeding down Lake Champlain, he captured 
Fort Chambly on October 18, and laid siege to St. Johns on the 
Richelieu River. Carleton, with a thousand troops, advanced to 

[94] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

the relief of St. Johns, but was defeated by Col. Seth Warner and a 
force of three hundred men, mostly Green Mountain Boys, who 
had taken up a position on the bank of the Richelieu. Warner there- 
upon erected a fort at the mouth of the Richelieu to prevent the 
arrival of reinforcements at St. Johns, and on November 3d the 
fortress was surrendered to Montgomery. Montreal was taken 
on the 13th, and about the first of December Montgomery joined 
Benedict Arnold under the walls of Quebec. 

On the last day of the year 1775 an attack was launched against 
Quebec. A bhnding snowstorm raged all day, and towards night 
Montgomery approached a battery which he had failed to see in 
the bhzzard, and was mortally wounded. The army withdrew up 
the St. Lawrence, where it passed the winter, suffering with the 
cold, with lack of provisions and with illness. The siege of Quebec 
was continued under the leadership of Benedict Arnold, but without 
avail. In the early spring of 1776 a Congressional Commission, 
consisting of Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Chase and Charles Carroll 
was dispatched to Canada; but being unable to accomplish any- 
thing, it returned to Ticonderoga. Early in June, Gen. John 
Thomas arrived and took command of the army before Quebec, 
which, with reinforcements that were soon received, numbered 
three thousand. At this juncture, however, appeared that greatest 
scourge of the armies of former days — the smallpox — rendering all 
but nine hundred out of the three thousand men unfit for duty at 
one time. General Thomas thereupon retired to the mouth of the 
RicheUeu River, where he himself died of the dreaded disease. 
The command thereupon devolved upon Gen. John SuUivan. 
About this time the garrison at Quebec was reinforced by the 
arrival of Burg03Tie with thirteen thousand men, and accordingly 
on June 14th Sullivan retreated with his entire army up the RicheUeu 
River and reached Ticonderoga early in July. 

The Canadian expedition had ended disastrously, and the army 
that had been brought off was in terrible condition, being described 
by John Adams as "disgraced, defeated, discontented, dispirited, 
undisciplined, eaten up with vermin, no clothes, beds, blankets, 
nor medicines, and no victuals but salt pork and flour." Surely 
their desperate condition was poorly calculated to withstand the 
advance of the British southward into the Champlain Valley. 
This advance was actually begun that same summer, but the httle 
flotilla of Benedict Arnold at the Battle of Valcour (q. v.), though 
itseK defeated, administered such a drubbing to the EngHsh fleet 

[95] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

that the invading forces retired for the winter, until they could 
perfect their plans for Burgoyne's Canapaign (q. v.) of 1777. 

MORGAN, GEN. DAN, and his regiment of five hundred New 
Jersey riflemen, joined General Gates at Stillwater, August 16, 1777. 
In the bloody battle of September 19th, in which Arnold frustrated 
Burgoyne's attempt to dislodge the American left wing from Bemis 
Heights, Morgan and his men played a principal part; and in the 
final conflict, October 7th, in which the British army went to wreck, 
their services were equally eminent. It is said that when Morgan 
was introduced to Burgoyne after the surrender, the British general 
took him by the hand, exclaiming: *'My dear sir, you conmiand 
the finest regiment in the world!" (See Battle of Saratoga.) 

Morgan's subsequent achievement at Cowpens, S. C, where, with 
nine hundred men and a loss of twelve killed and sixty-one wounded, 
he killed and disabled two hundred and thirty of the enemy, and 
took six hundred prisoners with a thousand stand of arms, is one 
of the brilliant chapters in the history of the Revolution. (See 
Murphy, Tim.) 

MOTHE, CAPTAIN DE LA, erected Fort St. Anne on Isle La 
Motte in 1665, leaving his name for the island. (See Carignan-Saheres.) 

MOTHER ANN LEE, "the lady elect," founder of the Shakers, 
is buried in Watervhet, where she died in 1784, and where the sect 
still owns a large acreage. They were the first to estabhsh a com- 
munistic settlement in the United States. Ann Lee (1736-84), 
whatever else she was, must have been a remarkable woman. Born 
in Manchester, England, daughter of a blacksmith herself, at an 
early age a factory employee and cook in an infirmary, she married, 
when a mere girl, a blacksmith by whom she had four children, all 
of whom died in infancy. Joining a sect known as the Shaking 
Quakers, she became subject to visions and revelations, among the 
latter being one that she was the second appearance of Christ — 
"Ann, the Word." Utterly without education, she began a crusade 
against marriage as "the root of human depravity," was forthwith 
sent to prison, and subsequently to a madhouse. Receiving a 
divine command to emigrate to America, she did so with seven of 
her followers in 1774, and in 1776, at Watervliet, estabUshed "The 
Church of Christ's Second Appearance, " of which, after formally 
dissolving her marriage relation, she became the recognized head. 
But even in the wilds of Watervhet she did not escape persecution. 
She was accused of witchcraft and, probably because she was 

[96] 




Dillon, McLellan and Beadel, Architects Carl Augustus Heber, Sculptor 

THE CHAMPLAIN MEMORIAL AT CROWN POINT 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

opposed to all war, of being in secret correspondence with the British. 
During the summer of 1776 she was imprisoned in Albany on the 
charge of high treason, and subsequently placed in the Poughkeepsie 
jail, where she was pardoned in 1777 by Gov. George CUnton. 
In 1780 the society increased largely, and branches were established 
at New Lebanon, West Pittsfield and other places in the East, all 
under the inspiration and leadership of Mother Ann. She had 
declared that when she left this world, it would be to ascend to heaven 
in the twinkling of an eye, but this programme was not carried out. 
Returning to WatervUet, she died a natural death, and was buried 
there, her grave, in accordance with the custom of the sect, being 
immarked except by the plainest of monuments. 

MT. DEFIANCE, originally called Sugar Hill, was the key to 
Fort Ticonderoga. Its steep sides rise on the west of the raihoad, 
just south of the station for Montcalm Landing, and are in clear 
view from the trains. It commanded the defences of the old fort 
from the southwest, and made them absolutely untenable in the 
presence of an artillery fire from its summit. Nevertheless, it was 
left unfortified by Montcalm when he completed the fort, and was 
not taken advantage of by Abercrombie in his attack of 1758. It 
was not fuUy recognized as a great strategic point until Burgoyne 
occupied it in his investment of Ticonderoga in 1777, and thus 
compelled the retreat of General St. Clair. (See Burgoyne's Campaign.) 
Around this mountain might be written a chapter of error and 
incompetency which, in the perspective of time, would seem almost 
unbeHevable. (See Fort Ticonderoga.) 

MT. INDEPENDENCE forms a point projecting into Lake 
Champlain from the eastern shore, directly opposite Fort Ticon- 
deroga. It was so named by the troops in July, 1776, when a courier 
arrived with a copy of the Declaration of Independence, which was 
read to the troops of the garrison by Colonel St. Clair. It was 
fortified in 1777 by St. Clair. 

MOUNT McGregor, about twelve miles north of Saratoga, was 
made historical by the death there of General U. S. Grant, which 
occurred July 23, 1885. It is now the site of a sanatorium maintained 
by the Metropohtan Life Insurance Company for the use of its agents. 

MURPHY, TIM, THE BENEFACTOR OF SCHOHARIE, 

was a Virginian, who came north with Morgan's riflemen. After 
the capture of Burgoyne, his company was ordered to Schoharie, 
Murphy remaining there after their term of service had expired. 

[97] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

Although acting without authority, he was practically the leader 
in the desultory warfare that followed. He fought Indians in the 
Indian way, wherever circumstances would permit. His double- 
barreled rifle was unerring in its aim, and he boasted after the war 
that he had killed forty redskins, half of whom he had scalped. He 
loved danger for danger's sake, yet, strange to say, never received a 
wound or bore a scar. The shooting of the British General Fraser 
(q. v.), at Saratoga, is attributed to him. His bravery at the defense 
of the Middle Fort at Middleburg (see Forts in Schoharie County), 
against Sir John Johnson, in the fall of 1780, is said to have prevented 
its surrender. ^ 

NICHOLSON'S EXPEDITION of 1709 was the first important 
move against the French in Queen Anne's War. A joint attack 
upon Montreal was proposed, one party to proceed from Albany up 
Lake Champlain and the other to go by sea to Quebec, when they 
would advance upon the French from both directions. The land 
force was under command of Col. Francis Nicholson, with 
Col. Peter Schuyler commanding the vanguard. The army 
proceeded to the present site of Fort Ann and there awaited news 
of the arrival of the fleet at Quebec. It was during this advance 
that Fort Ingoldsby (q. v.), Fort Saratoga (q. v.). Fort Miller (q. v.), 
Fort Nicholson (see Fort Edward) and Fort Schuyler (see Fort 
Ann) were built. At Fort Schuyler, Nicholson made a hundred 
bark canoes and a hundred and ten bateaux for his journey down 
Lake Champlain. The fleet never reached Quebec, being sent to 
Portugal instead, and accordingly, after waiting through many 
discouraging delays, while his army was decimated by sickness, 
Nicholson retreated to Albany, destroying all of the canoes and 
the forts as far southward as Fort Saratoga. 

Two years later, in 1711, a similar joint expedition against Canada 
was planned by the Colonies, and the land forces were again placed 
in command of Nicholson, who now held a general's commission. 
He proceeded as before up the Hudson to the site of Fort Ann, but 
had scarcely arrived when news was received that the fleet with 
which he was to co-operate had been wrecked at the mouth of the 
St. Lawrence. Accordingly he at once withdrew to Albany. Thus 
these two attempts to invade Canada during Queen Anne's War 
ended without firing a shot. 

NORTH AMERICAN PRODUCTS. The Royal Magazine, 
London, January, 1760, in an article describing the original forti- 

[98] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN fflSTORY 

fications at Crown Point, says: "The country in which this forti- 
fication is erected is one of the most fruitful in North America, as 
appears from its being covered with sugar-trees and ginseng." 

NORTH ELBA has other claim to mention than as the home of 
John Brown, the hero of Harper's Ferry. It was for long a favorite 
summer home of the Indians, who made the Adirondacks their 
hunting ground, and upon all the earliest maps one of their villages 

is located in the township. 

• 

OGHQUAGA, the most important Indian town on the Upper 
Susquehanna, stood on both sides of the river, just below a 
large bend in the stream. The present village of Windsor now 
occupies the spot. It was burned by Col. William Butler, in October, 
1778, some thirty or forty houses being then destroyed. It was 
retaUation for this and similar deeds that led, a few weeks later, 
to the tragedy of Cherry Valley (q. v.). To this village the noted 
New England divine, Rev. Jonathan Edwards, sent his second son 
and namesake, at the age of ten, to learn the Indian language, with a 
view of becoming a missionary to the aborigines; but when the 
war broke out a few months later, a faithful Indian, who had special 
care of the lad, returned him to his father in Massachusetts, carrying 
him part of the way on his back. This boy was afterwards President 
of Union College. 

OLD DUTCH PULPIT. In the First Reformed Church, Albany, 
are the pulpit, hour-glass and Bible which came from Holland. 
The pulpit of oak, octagonal, four feet high and three feet in diameter, 
was in use one hundred and fifty years, by eight successive pastors, 
as was also the hour-glass by which the preacher was timed by the 
whole congregation. Greatly did he offend if he failed to occupy 
his full sixty minutes. The Bible, with its wood and leather covers, 
brass corners and clasps, was printed in 1730. 

OLD STONE FORT, in Schoharie, was built in 1772, as a church 
for the Dutch Reformed, the material being contributed by members 
of the congregation, the names of whom — many of them — were 
carved on the stones, and are still visible. It was also used as a 
fort, and was attacked in the raid of October, 1780. Marks of the 
cannon-balls then fired at it are visible in the cornice on the north- 
west side. It was afterwards again used as a place of worship till 
1844. In 1857 it was deeded to the State, and in 1873 donated by 

[99] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

the State to the county. It contains an interesting collection of 
relics, etc., the property of the Schoharie Historical Society. (See 
David WiUiams Monument and Col. Peter Vrooman.) 

OTSEGO LAKE has been called Lake of the Haunting Shadows 
by Miss Constance Fenimore Woolson, a grand-niece of James 
Fenimore Cooper, in reference to the people of his virile imagina- 
tion, who, in his novels, frequented its shores. In an article in 
Harper's Magazine, in December, 1871, appeared the following 
verses by her : 

"O Haunted Lake, from out whose silver fountains 

The mighty Susquehanna takes its rise; 

O Haunted Lake, among the pine-clad mountains, 

Forever smiling upwards to the skies — 
"A master's hand hath painted all thy beauties, 

A master's mind hath peopled all thy shore 

With wraiths of migh+3'' hunters and fair maidens 

Haunting thy forest glades forever more. 
*'A master's heart hath gilded all thy valley 

With golden splendor from a loving breast, 

And in thy little churchyard 'neath the pine trees 

A master's body sleeps in quiet rest. 
"O Haunted Lake, guard well thy sacred story, 

Guard well the memory of that honored name. 

Guard well the grave that gave thee all thy glory, 

And raised thee to enduring fame." 



PALMER, REV. RAY (1808-87), the first, and for sixteen 
years (1850-66) pastor of the Congregational Church in 
Albany, holds high place among American hymnologists. His 
first effort in that line to attract any notice, " My Faith Looks Up to 
Thee," has been translated into more than twenty languages. Dr. 
Palmer is buried in the Riu-al Cemetery. 

PARKMAN, FRANCIS (1823-93), stands pre-eminent as the 
historian of the rise, decline and fall of the French power in America. 
His books relating to the struggles of France to estabhsh her power 
permanently in this country have never been surpassed for their 
vivid and fascinating descriptions of men, events and scenes. The 
absolute accuracy of their data is unquestioned, for Parkman was 
above everything else a most painstaking historian, before whose 
searching inquiry no fact was too insignificant to receive the most 
minute investigation and verification. He went seven times to 
Europe to examine documentary evidence not elsewhere available; 

[100] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

he repeatedly visited the remnants of the Indian tribes still in 
existence; and personally explored the country of which he wrote. 
Never robust, he became a victim to the rare enthusiasm with 
which he pursued his researches, until he was compelled at last to 
rely upon others to read to him, and amanuenses to write from 
dictation the last pages of his work. His struggle to complete the 
task which he had set himself is one of the most heroic in the history 
of literature. 

In his ''Historic Handbook of the Northern Tour" Parkman drew 
from his several histories such narratives as are connected with 
points of interest on Lake Champlain and Lake George. There, 
in the beautiful style which has given him unquestioned place in 
literature as in history, he tells in detail the stories of the discovery 
of the two great lakes, the Battles of Lake George and Fort Ticon- 
deroga, the siege and capture of Fort WiUiam Henry, and much 
other matter covering the same fiercely contested region. To 
those who are without either the time or inchnation to read his 
longer works, the ''Historic Handbook of the Northern Tour" offers 
a welcome acquaintance with one of the most delightful historians 
of the country. 

PATROON SYSTEM, under which a large part of the region 
about Albany was settled, was estabhshed in 1629. Under its 
provisions any member of the Dutch West India Company who 
planted a colony of fifty souls over fifteen years of age was granted 
land for sixteen miles along the shore of a navigable river, or eight 
miles on both sides, the extent into the interior being unlimited. 
Title to the soil was absolute in the patroon, and colonists were 
httle better than serfs. Although the original provisions were 
greatly modified, many characteristics of the old feudal tenure 
were continued till the middle of the Nineteenth Century, giving 
rise to the anti-rent agitation of 1839-47. (See Anti-Rentism.) 

PLATTSBURG, settled in 1784, was, during the War of 1812, 
headquarters for the United States forces on the northern frontier, 
and here Gen. Alexander Macomb successfully withstood a vastly 
superior land force of British, under General Prevost, at the time of 
the naval battle of Lake Champlain (q. v.). 

General Prevost's advance on Plattsburg was begun September 4, 
1814, and the following day halted at West Chazy; on the 6th the 
British entered the village Hmits, but were driven back by the fire 
of the Americans, who were entrenched on the southern bank of the 

1 1011 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

Saranac. The British then encamped about two miles distant, 
waiting for the approach of their fleet, which swung into view the 
morning of September 11th. While the fight on the water was 
raging, the British made their assault by land, approaching in 
three columns, one by the principal bridge, one by the bridge in the 
village, while a third, which was to cross at a ford three miles above, 
was led astray by a false road planned by General Macomb. The 
assault was successfully resisted, and, hastened by the signal defeat 
of their navy, the next day the British, leaving behind the dead, 
sick and wounded, vast quantities of provisions, ammunition, tents, 
entrenching tools and ordinance stores, were in full flight for Canada. 
At Plattsburg is now located one of the posts of the U. S. Army. 
A beautiful monument to Samuel Champlain, surmounted by an 
heroic figure of the explorer, stands in the city, overlooking the 
broad waters of Cumberland Bay. 

POOR, ENOCH, at the head of a New Hampshire regiment, 
was in Montgomery's Canadian expedition of 1775-1776. On the 
retreat the Americans concentrated near Crown Point (q. v.), and 
Colonel Poor was actively occupied in strengthening the defence at 
that post, till a council of general officers recommended its evacua- 
tion, which was accordingly ordered. In the first Battle of Saratoga 
(q. v.), Poor's brigade sustained more than two-thirds of the whole 
American loss in killed, wounded and missing. At the second 
battle, Poor, with Arnold and Morgan, led in the attack. 

PUTNAM, GEN. ISRAEL (1718-90), perhaps our most strenu- 
ous old-time hero, distinguished himself, and three times, in 1755-58, 
came very near his own death in the territory here considered. As 
captain under Maj.-Gen. Phinehas Lyman, he was present at the 
Battle of Lake George, and afterwards became one of the leading 
members of Rogers's famous band of Rangers that annoyed the 
enemy during the next two years. 

At Miller's Falls, seven miles south of Fort Edward, where the 
Hudson falls fifteen or twenty feet in eighty rods, it is recorded that 
Putnam so astonished a party of Indians hot in his pursuit, by 
steering his boat directly down the current amid ragged rocks and 
whirHng eddies to safety in the pool below, that they regarded him 
as God-protected, and beheved it would affront the Great Spirit to 
further attempt his fife. 

While stationed upon Rogers's Island, opposite Fort Edward, the 
barracks in the town took fire, placing the powder magazine in 

[1021 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

imminent danger. Putnam, crossing upon the ice, and unmindful 
of peril, against even the commandant's orders to desist, threw 
paiKul after pailful of water upon the kindUng magazine, till he had 
extinguished the flames and saved the fort from impending destruc- 
tion, though at the expense of terribly bUstered legs, thighs, arms 
and face, and a consequent month in the hospital. 

Another escape from the flames was even more dramatic. In 
August, 1758, he was taken prisoner by Indians near Wood Creek, 
which flows just east of the Delaware and Hudson tracks, from Fort 
Ann into Lake Champlain. His captors, evidently not the same 
party that saw his escape at Miller's Falls, after a few preliminary 
tortures, had stripped and bound him to a tree, and the flames were 
already crackling around him, when a French officer arrived most 
opportunely, kicked aside the firebrands, cuffed and upbraided the 
savages, and released their singed but still unterrified victim. He 
was afterward sent to Montreal, and, in due time, exchanged, largely, 
it is said, through the efforts of Col. Peter Schuyler, who was him- 
self a prisoner. ^ 

QUEEN ANNE'S GIFT. The communion service used in St. 
Peter's Episcopal Church, Albany, for almost two hundred 
years, consists of six pieces of massive silver, each of which bears 
the royal arms, and the legend: "The gift of Her Majesty, Anne, 
by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, and of 
Her Plantations in North America, Queen, to Her Indian Chappel 
of the Onondawgus." 

"QUEEN ESTHER'' was the granddaughter of Catherine 
Montour, a half-breed Indian, supposed to have been the daughter 
of Count Frontenac. She was captured and carried into the Seneca 
country, where she married a young chief, and had several children, 
among them "French Margaret," who was the mother of Esther. 
The latter's superior mind gave her a great ascendency over the 
Senecas, among whom she ruled as sovereign. She accompanied the 
delegates of the Six Nations to Philadelphia, where her refined and 
attractive personaHty gained her many courtesies from the ladies 
of that city. But she is chiefly remembered by the awful part she 
took in the Wyoming Massacre (q. v.), when, to avenge the death 
of her son, killed in battle, she is charged with tomahawking fourteen 
persons, although Stone argues, chiefly from her reputed personaHty, 
that this could not be true. A rock near Wilkes-Barre is called 
Queen Esther's rock. 

[1031 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

RANGERS were a corpa of adventurous spirits raised by Robert 
Rogers during the French and Indian War, to perform scout 
duty, make raids against the French, and harass them in every way 
possible. The organization was continually on duty, both as a 
whole and in detachments, and rendered a service as efficient as it 
was spectacular. Among his Heutenants Rogers numbered John 
Stark and Israel Putnam, two names which in after-years took 
foremost rank during the Revolution. 

RENSSELAER, formerly known as Greenbush, and by the Dutch 
as Het Greene Bosch, across the river from Albany, was in two wars 
the rendezvous for troops. It was here that both the unfortunate 
General Abercrombie and the extravagant General Amherst col- 
lected in 1758-59 their respective armies for the capture of the 
French forts on Lake Champlain. About a mile away from the 
ferry is the site of the barracks erected by the United States Govern- 
ment in 1812, with accommodations for 6,000 soldiers marshalled to 
defend the frontier, or invade Canada, as circumstances might 
require. General Dearborn, Senior Major-General of the United 
States Army, and in command of the Northern Department, had his 
headquarters here for some time. Here, also, was the birthplace of 
Yankee Doodle (q. v.). 

RIEDESEL, BARON AND MADAME, were both with Bur- 
goyne (see Burgoyne's Campaign) at the time of his surrender. The 
Baron was in command of the Hessian troops, which formed an 
important part of the expedition, and she, with her children, accom- 
panied her husband. For six days, during the active hostilities of 
the Battle of Saratoga, she and her companions remained in the 
cellar of what was afterwards called the Riedesel House, opposite 
the mouth of the Battenkill, on the Hudson. It was she who ten- 
derly nursed the mortally wounded British general. Eraser (q. v.), 
and recorded his last words and wishes. After the surrender, both 
she and her husband were hospitably entertained by General Schuyler, 
at the Schuyler Mansion in Albany, due acknowledgment of which 
is made in her letters, pubHshed in Berlin, in 1800, and translated 
by W. L. Stone. 

ROCK DUNDER Hfts its bare surface above the level of Lake 
Champlain just southeast of Juniper Island. It is small in extent 
and at times of high water or storm is hidden from view. From a 
distance it is easily mistaken for a boat, and this has led to many 
amusing incidents which have become traditions of the locahty. It 

[104] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN fflSTORY 

is a continual object of interest to passengers on the steamers of 
the Champlain Transportation Company, which pass close by it 
on entering and leaving Burlington at the south. 

ROGERS, CAPT. ROBERT (1727-1800), a native of New 
Hampshire, raised and commanded Rogers's Rangers, which acquired 
a great reputation in the vicinity of Lake George during the French 
and Indian War. During 1756, with Fort WiUiam Henry as a base 
of operations, he made thirteen daring raids into the country around 
Ticonderoga. In January, 1757, his band of one hundred and 
seventy, while scouting north of that place, met with one hundred 
French and six hundred Indians, and lost one hundred men, though 
they killed one hundred and fifty of French and Indians. In 
August he repulsed an attack of the French, under Marin, near 
Fort Ann. In 1759 he was sent by Sir Jeffrey Amherst from Crown 
Point to destroy the village, near the St. Lawrence, of the Abenakis, 
or St. Francis Indians, who had long been the scourge of the frontier. 
This service he performed, killing two hundred Indians, although in 
getting back to the EngUsh outpost his force was almost annihilated. 
On one of his scouting expeditions, in March, 1758, he was pursued 
by Indians from Ticonderoga, and coming to the crest of a moun- 
tain at the lower end of Lake George, at a point where it sloped 
almost precipitately down to the ice, he took off his pack and allowed 
it to sUde down through the snow. Then putting his snowshoes on 
backwards, he descended by another route. The Indians on coming 
up, beheved he had been met by another on the summit, and that 
they had fought and rolled down the cliff together. Seeing Rogers 
unharmed on the ice below, they concluded that he was under the 
protection of the Great Spirit, and gave up the chase. The precipice 
has since been known as Rogers's Rock. His name is also perpetuated 
in an island in the Hudson, opposite Fort Edward, where a block- 
house once stood and troops were encamped. 

Rogers's latter career was badly clouded. As commandant of 
Michilimackinac, Mich., he was accused, although not convicted, 
of plotting to plunder his own fort and dehver it to the French. 
During the Revolution he was suspected by the Americans of being 
a British spy; and afterwards violated his parole, accepting a com- 
mission in the British Army. In 1778 he was proscribed and ban- 
ished, after which date his history is lost. He was a writer as well 
as fighter. His Journal has had different editors, one being Franklia 
B. Hough, of Albany (1883). 

[105] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

RURAL CEMETERY, THE ALBANY, for which there is a 
special station on the Delaware and Hudson, is the resting place of 
many men eminent in their country's history. Among them are 
Gen. Philip Schuyler, Gen. Solomon Van Rensselaer, Gen. Peter 
Gansevoort, Col. John Mills, Pres. Chester A. Arthur, William 
L. Marcy, Daniel Manning, Thiu-low Weed, and many heroes of 
the Civil War. • 

SANDY HILL, probably originally named Kingsbury, was at 
first so nicknamed from the long sandy hill on the main high- 
way leading north from the village. It was said to have been fas- 
tened to the beautiful village by Burgoyne's teamsters. It was 
incorporated in 1810 and the name changed to Hudson Falls in 1910. 
Sandy Hill in the first half of the last century was the most promi- 
nent village north of Troy and was noted for its distinguished men. 
Among many could be named Gov. Silas Wright, Gov. Nathaniel 
Pitcher, William L. Lee, Chief Justice and Lord High Chancellor of 
the Sandwich Islands, Gen. Orville Clark, Atty.-Gen. John H. 
Martindale, and Hon. Charles Rogers. 

SARATOGA BATTLE MONUMENT, erected to commemorate 
the surrender of Burgoyne (see Burgoyne's Campaign), is in the 
village of Schuylerville, which was formerly known as Old Saratoga. 
It stands within the Unes of Burgoyne's intrenchments, on a bluff 
three hundred and fifty feet above the Hudson, and from a height 
of one hundred and fifty-five feet overlooks the grounds of the 
surrender. A staircase of bronze leads from the base to the top, 
where can be seen the entire region between Lake George, the Green 
Mountains and the Catskills. On each of three sides of the monu- 
ment is a niche containing heroic statues of Generals Gates, Schuyler 
and Morgan, while the fourth is left vacant, with the name of 
Arnold inscribed underneath. With the monument, and lining its 
two stories, are decorations in bronze representing historical and 
allegorical scenes connected with the campaign of Burgoyne. The 
corner-stone was laid on October 17, 1877, when poems and addresses 
were delivered by Horatio Seymour, George William Curtis, James 
Grant Wilson, Alfred B. Street and WilHam L. Stone. (See Battle 
of Saratoga.) It was formally dedicated by the State of New York 
in October, 1912, with impressive civil and military ceremonies. 

SARATOGA LAKE is three and a half miles east of the village of 
Saratoga Springs. It is about five miles in length, with an average 
width of one mile. Here have taken place some of the most brilliant 

[106] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

and exciting college regattas ever held in America. It was a favorite 
resort of the Indians, as it is now of summer vacationists and excur- 
sion parties. 

SARATOGA MASSACRE occurred on the morning of the 17th 
of November, 1745, at old Fort Saratoga, near the mouth of Fish 
Creek, where Schuylerville now stands. A horde of French and 
Indians, under the leadership of Marin, had come down from 
Montreal to raid the settlements in the Connecticut Valley. The 
approach of winter, however, and the lack of suitable provisions, led 
the Indiana to refuse to go eastward of Crown Point. Accordingly, 
at the instance of Father Piquet, the French Prefect, ApostoHque of 
Canada, the band turned southward towards Fort Orange. 

"The scowling portholes of the old Schuyler mansion seemed to 
laugh between the tendrils of the creeping vines. Suddenly, in the 
early morning, the scene of peace and prosperity was changed to 
slaughter, pillage and destruction. Philip Schuyler, the elder, uncle 
of Gen. Phihp Schuyler, was offered immunity in the midst of the 
fray; but he scorned safety at the expense of his neighbors, and was 
shot to death in his own doorway. The houses and fort were burned 
to the ground, the cattle killed or burned in their stalls, and only 
one or two inhabitants escaped to tell the tale." — Ellen Hardin 
Walwortby in Historic Towns. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS takes its name from Fort Saratoga, 
which stood beside the Hudson on the present site of Schuylerville. 
The derivation of the word Saratoga, however, is shrouded in 
obscurity. Many attempts have been made to estabHsh its meaning, 
but all have been conjectures, most of which are without sound 
foundation in the Iroquois language. It has been asserted, for 
instance, that it comes from two Indian words meaning "Place of 
Salt," whence the Salt Springs, and also that it means "Place of 
Sparkling Waters." These interpretations are erroneous, a fact 
especially evident since the original appUcation of the word was to 
a point on the Hudson and not to the Springs at all. The changes of 
time, however, have caused Old Saratoga to be entirely forgotten, 
except by those who find interest in history and tradition, while to 
the modern world the name has become a synonym for Salt Springs 
and Sparkling Waters, and a designation for one of the best known 
health and pleasure resorts on the American continent. The develop- 
ment of this celebrated watering place began at the High Rock 
Springs, which was known to the Indians. As long ago as 1783, 

[107] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Gov. George Clinton 
visited the Springs together. The Ust of distinguished personages 
who have since enjoyed its benefits and pleasures would more 
than fill this book of notes to overflowing. 

Next to the original Indian occupants, the ground on which the 
village of Saratoga stands, and through which the mineral waters of 
Saratoga percolate, belonged to Rip Van Dam, who received it by 
allotment in 1770, but ia otherwise unknown to fame. The first 
hotel was built by Dirck Scoughten in 1771, near the High Rock 
Spring, and was occupied three years later by John Arnold of 
Rhode Island. The surroimdings at that time included sixteen 
Indian cabins in plain eight. Wolves howled and panthers screamed 
by night, black bears were out for berries in the daytime, wild deer 
and moose drank from brook and lake, and overhead eagles soared 
and built their nests in the lofty pines. 

The first cottage owner was Gen. PhUip Schuyler, who, in 1783, 
built a summer-house near the Springs. At the time Sir Wilham 
Johnson visited the High Rock Spring, it is said that the waters had 
ceased to flow over the top, and there is a legend to the effect that 
it was because some squaws had washed themselves there that the 
offended waters shrank from their polluting touch into the bosom of 
the rock. It was not till 1866 that a Httle scientific tubing induced 
them to resume their original channel. Knowledge of the other 
springs, of which there are many, has come in some cases by careful 
searching, in others by chance. Congress Spring was discovered in 
1792 by Gov. John Taylor Gilman, of New Hampshire, a Revo- 
lutionary soldier and member of the Continental Congress, in honor 
of which it was named. Columbian Spring was first tubed in 1805 
by Gideon Putnam, who two years before had opened the Union 
Hotel, which was much larger than any that had preceded it, but 
small, indeed, compared with the magnificent structures of the 
present day. Saratoga has had many fires, each conflagration 
resulting in more commodious and palatial accommodations, till, 
like the health and pleasure attractions which surround them, they 
are without an equal in the United States. The erection of an 
adequate convention hall, in 1893, perfected arrangements by 
which the largest assemblages — poKtical, religious, or fraternal — can 
be admirably housed, and many of the most important and inter- 
esting national gatherings are now regularly held at Saratoga. 

All of the important springs in Saratoga have been taken over 
by the State, and many of those that had failed have been brought 

11081 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

back to their former liberal flow by scientific treatment. They are 
now controlled by the State for the benefit of all the people, with a 
conservatism which will forever maintain the supremacy of Saratoga 
among American watering places. 

SCALPING was practiced by both French and English through- 
out the Colonial wars. They took not only the scalps of Indians but 
those of white men as well, and at some of the more atrocious massa- 
cres it also appears that women and children were scalped in true 
Indian fashion. Some of the early writers justified the taking of 
scalps from Indians on the ground that it increased Indian respect 
for white men as fighters. The custom might better be attributed, 
however, to the thoroughness with which the first white invaders of 
the wilderness copied all of the methods of warfare of their savage 
opponents and allies. Rogers in his journal repeatedly tells of the 
scalps that he or his rangers took in their skirmishes with the French. 
With a fine sense of propriety, however, he adopted a different tone 
when explaining in England how the Indians waged war in America. 
"They always scalped their victims," he said, "for such is their barbar- 
ous custom." During Amherst's Campaign of 1759 against Ticon- 
deroga the scalping of women and children was expressly forbidden 
in General Orders of June 12th. "It is the General's orders that no 
scouting parties or others in the army under his command shall, 
whatsoever opportunity they have, scalp any women or children 
belonging to the enemy. They may bring them away if they can; 
but, if not, they are to leave them unhurted; and he is determined 
that, if they (the French) should murther or scalp any women or 
children who are subjects of the king of England, he will revenge it 
by the death of two men of the enemy, whenever he has occasion, 
for every man, woman, or child murthered by the enemy." 

SCHENECTADY MASSACRE. Schenectady stands on the site 
of the great Mohawk "castle" and capital of the Five Nations. It 
was settled by Arendt Van Curler, or Corlear, from whom Lake 
Champlain received one of its early names, Corlear's Lake. In 
February, 1690, a party of one hundred French and as many Indians, 
the latter under the leadership of Kryn, "The Great Mohawk," all 
being sent southward from Quebec by Frontenac, approached the 
town at midnight, on snowshoes, in the midst of a driving snow- 
storm, entered without being discovered, awoke the two hundred 
and fifty inhabitants with the war-whoop, killed sixty on the spot, 
captured ninety, and of the sixty-six houses burned all but six. 

[109] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

The following "ballad" of the period, according to the expressed 
wish of the writer, supposed to have been a member of the garrison 
at Albany, has stayed on earth long after he is dead. 

"A Ballad, in which is set forth the horrid cruelties practiced 
by the French and Indians on the night of the 8th of the last 
February. The which I did compose last night in the space of 
one hour; and am now writing, the morning of Friday, June 
12th, 1690." 

"God prosper long our king and queen, 
Our lives and safeties all ; 
A sad misfortune once there did 
Schenectady befall. 
"From forth the woods of Canada 

The Frenchmen took their way, 
The people of Schenectady 
To captivate and slay. 
"They marched for two and twenty dales 
AU through the deepest snow; 
And on a dismal winter night. 
They strucke the cruel blow. 
"The lightsome sun that rules the day 
Had gone down in the west; 
And eke the drowsie villagers 

Had sought and found their reste. 
" They thought they were in saftie 
And dreampt not of the foe; 
But att midnight they all awoke 
In wonderment and woe. 
"For they were in their pleasant beddes 
And soundelie sleeping, when 
Each door was sudden open broke 
By six or seven men. 
"The men and women, younge and olde, 
And eke the girls and boys. 
All started up in great affright, 
Att the alarming noise. 
"They then were murther'd in their beddes 
Without shame or remorse; 
And soone the floors and street were strewed 
With many a bleeding corse. 
"The village soon began to blaze, 

Which shew'd the horrid sight, — 
But, O, I scarce can beare to tell 
The mis'ries of that night. 
"They threw the infants in the fire, 
The men they did not spare, 
But killed all which they could find 
Though aged or tho' fair. 

[110] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

"0, Christe! In the still midnight air 
It sounded dismally, 
The women's prayers, and the loud screams 
Of their great agony. 
"Methinks as if I hear them now, 
All ringing in my ear. 
The shrieks and groans and woeful sighs 
They uttered in their fear. 
"But some run off to Albany 
And told the doleful tale, 
Yett though we gave our chearful aid 
It did not much avail. 
"And we were horribly afraid, 

And shook with terror, when 
They told us that the Frenchmen were 
More than a thousand men. 
"The news came on the Sabbath morn 
Just att the break of day. 
And with a companie of horse 
I galloped away. 
"But soon we found the French were gone 
With all their great bootye. 
And then their trail we did pursue, 
As was our true dutye. 
"The Mohaques joyned our brave party e, 
And followed in the chase. 
Till we came up with the Frenchmen, 
Att a most Hkelye place. 
"Our soldiers fell upon their rear 
And killed twenty-five; 
Our young men were so much enrag'd 
They took scarce one ahve. 
" D'Aillebout them did commande 

Which were but thievish rogues, 
Else why did they consent and goe 
With bloodye Indian dogges? 
"And here I end the long ballad 

The which you just have redde, 
I wish that it may stay on earth 
Long after I am dead." 

SCHUYLER FAMILY has, from the earliest times, held a most 
prominent place in the history of the country. Phihp Pietersen Van 
Schuyler was the first of that name in the colony, and his son. Col. 
Peter Schuyler, was first mayor of Albany when it was incorporated 
in 1686. It was Peter who led an expedition against Fort La Prairie 
(q. V.) in 1691, following the one of his brother, John Schuyler, 
against the same place in 1690. Peter's son was Gen. Philip Schuyler, 

[111] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

born at Albany in 1733, and active in the French and Indian War 
and in the Revolution. In the latter he organized the expedition 
which was to proceed against Canada by way of Lake Champlain, 
but was forced by illness to turn over the command to General Mont- 
gomery. After the evacuation of Ticonderoga by St. Clair, he was 
accused of neglect of duty and himself demanded a full and complete 
trial by court-martial. He was finally acquitted of every charge 
with the highest honor, and this acquittal was confirmed by Congress. 
His daughter EHzabeth married Alexander Hamilton. 

The Schuyler mansion stood at the head of Schuyler Street in 
Albany, and it was in this house that Lafayette, Baron Steuben, 
Benjamin Franklin, and many other notable persons were enter- 
tained, among them being Burgoyne, who came there as a prisoner 
after the surrender at Saratoga. It was at this house, in the summer 
of 1781, that Canadians and Indians plotted to abduct Gen. PhiUp 
Schuyler and carry him from his home in Albany to Canada for 
ransom. The house was surrounded with armed men, but the 
General had been warned, and barring and fastening the doors, the 
family rushed upstairs, only to remember at the last moment that 
the infant daughter had been left sleeping in her cradle in the nursery. 
The mother was flying to its rescue, but the General held her back, 
as the doors were giving way. Thereupon her third daughter (after- 
wards wife of the last Patroon) rushed down-stairs, caught up the 
infant and bore it off in safety. As she ran, an Indian hurled his 
tomahawk, which cut her dress, within a few inches of the child's head, 
and struck the stair-rail at the lower turn, the cut being visible today. 
Frightened by the supposed approach of assistance from town, the 
marauders beat a retreat, carrying ofif nothing of greater value than 
the General's silver. 

SCHUYLER ISLAND, in Lake Champlain, on the northeastern 
side of Corlear or Douglas Bay, is in full view from the car windows 
as the train winds around the beautiful shores of the bay. It is 
beheved to have derived its name from the fact that Gen. Philip 
Schuyler encamped there several days on an expedition to Canada. 
After Arnold's battle with the British fleet under Carleton (see Battle 
of Valcour), and when he had shpped away from Carleton in the 
darkness, he repaired some of his vessels, which were in sinking con- 
dition, in the shelter of this island. 

SOREL, CAPTAIN DE, was one of the officers of the Carignan- 
Salieres (q. v.) regiment sent by Marquis de Tracy in 1660 to build 

[112] 




.L 



Dillon, McLellan and Beadel, Architects Carl Augustus Heber, Sculptor 

CHAMPLAIN MEMORIAL AT PLATTSBURG 




THE DEEP CLEFT OF SPLIT ROCK SEPARATED IROQUOIS FROM ALGONQUINS 
AND THE COLONIES FROM CANADA 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

a chain of forts up the Richelieu River and on Lake Champlain. 
His memory is perpetuated by a name sometimes apphed to the 
RicheUeu River — the Sorel. 

SPLIT ROCK. A short distance north of Westport, on the west 
side of Lake Champlain, is a remarkable rock, thirty feet high and 
half an acre in extent, which is separated from the mountain by a deep 
cleft twelve to fifteen feet wide. It was called Rock Regio by the Indi- 
ans, from an Indian chief who was drowned there, and who was be- 
lieved to have taken up his residence in the water under the rock. He 
had power over the winds and waves, and to propitiate him the 
Indians were accustomed to throw gifts to him as they passed in their 
canoes. Upon the return of De Courcelles's Expedition (q. v.) from the 
Mohawk in 1666, Arendt Van Corlear accompanied the party. 
When opposite Spht Rock, so said the Indians, he made insulting 
gestures to the chief in the water, upon which the old Indian raised 
a sudden wind, upset the canoe, and drowned the celebrated Dutch- 
man for his lack of respect. SpUt Rock was the boundary between 
the Mohawks and the Algonquins, and in 1713 it was acknowledged 
by the Treaty of Utrecht as the hmit of English dominions. In 1760 
it was fixed as the boundary between New York and Canada. This 
hmit was officially acknowledged as late as 1774, but in the following 
year the Americans passed it under arms, and won and still hold the 
territory for seventy-seven miles to the north. 

SPRUCE BEER. In describing the gathering of General Amherst's 
forces at the head of Lake George, in 1759, Parkman says: "A 
frequent employment was the cutting of spruce tops to make spruce 
beer. This innocent beverage was reputed sovereign against scm-vy; 
and such was the fame of its virtues that a copious supply of West 
India molasses used in concocting it was thought indispensable to 
every army or garrison in the wilderness. Throughout this cam- 
paign it is repeatedly mentioned in general orders, and the soldiers 
are promised that they shall have as much as they want, at half- 
penny a quart. " 

STARK, JOHN, was born at Londonderry, N. H., August 27, 1728, 
and died at Manchester, N. H., May 8, 1822. He thus Hved through 
the most strenuous period of the Colonial wars, the Revolution, and 
the War of 1812. In both the French and Indian and the Revolu- 
tionary struggles he was an active participant, and during the later 
years of his life the recipient of an homage and veneration as well 
earned on the field of battle as that of any soldier in American history. 

[113] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

Stark first saw active service when he became a heutenant in 
Rogers's Rangers in 1755, though he had had much experience in the 
wilderness before this as a hunter, trapper and pioneer and as a 
captive for a short period among the St. Francis Indians on the St. 
Lawrence. Indeed, so quick had he been to exhibit those virtues 
most admired by the Indians that he was given considerable freedom 
by his captors, and was finally adopted into the tribe as one of its 
members. 

Throughout the records of the French and Indian War, from 
1755 to 1759, Stark's name recurs with unusual frequency, both in 
the reports of scouting expeditions, and in the almost equally exciting 
accounts of the fortified camps. It is recorded that the attack of 
Vaudreuil on Fort William Henry (q. v.), in the early morning of 
March 18, 1757, was repulsed solely because of the vigilance of 
Stark. On the eve of St. Patrick's Day Stark had overheard members 
of an Irish regiment, with which the fort was garrisoned, planning 
their celebration for the following day. He thereupon issued orders 
to the sutler that no rum should be given to the Rangers under his 
command on St. Patrick's Day without his written order. Stark 
then retired, and instructed his orderly to say to aU applicants that 
his hand was lame and he could issue no orders. The Rangers were 
thus reluctantly obliged to look on at the celebration of the Irish 
regiment, and incidentally to mount guard upon the walls of the fort. 
Anticipating just such a celebration, Vaudreuil had planned his 
attack for that night. He found the Rangers waiting at the fijst 
assault, and Stark among them, all lameness gone from his hand. 

On another occasion, in January, 1757, when a party of Rangers 
had retreated before a superior force of the French and had reached 
the ice on Lake George, about forty miles from Fort William Henry, 
Stark volunteered to proceed to the fort on snowshoes and return 
with sleighs for the wounded. All the preceding day and night he 
had undergone the most severe exertion, in action and during the 
retreat. Nevertheless he covered the forty miles to Fort William 
Henry by evening, and returned to his comrades with sleighs and a 
reinforcing party early the next morning. 

Stark's most memorable service in the Revolution was the defeat 
of a detachment of British and Hessians under Colonel Baum, which 
had been sent by Burgoyne from Saratoga to seize supplies located 
at Bennington. Stark ralHed a strong force of volunteers and in a 
severe engagement defeated and captured the British and Hessian 
detachment. His defeat of Baum was largely responsible for the 

[1141 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

failure of Burgojme's Campaign (q. v.). Stark was subsequently- 
appointed a brigadier-general in the Colonial army and was placed 
in command of the Northern Department, which included Lake 
George and Lake Champlain, the scene of the memorable exploits 
of his earher life. 

STEVENSON, ROBERT LOUIS (1850-94), ''the best loved 
writer of his time," spent several months in 1887-88 at Saranac Lake, 
in the Adirondacks, making the brave fight for life which he kept 
up uncomplainingly till the end came in far-away Samoa. The 
close of one of his most powerful and characteristic novels, "The 
Master of Ballantrae' * (1889), is laid in the country north of Albany. 
His ballad of Ticonderoga is one of the real Uterary products of 
that historic place. (See Campbell, Major Duncan.) 

STONE, WILLL^M L. (1792-1844), was a newspaper writer and 
historian who paid much attention to events and individuals con- 
nected with Colonial life and the Revolution; and to him the world 
is indebted for the truth in regard to many things about which 
there had been much misstatement. Among his works are : " Border 
Wars of the American Revolution," ''Life of Joseph Brant," "Life 
of Red Jacket," ''Poetry and History of Wyoming," "Uncas and 
Miantonomah." His only son and namesake (1835), who followed 
closely in his father's footsteps, delivered the historical address 
at the laying of the corner-stone of the Saratoga monument, and 
wrote "Life and Times of Sir William Johnson," "Letters and Jour- 
nals of Mrs. General Riedesel," "Life and Military Journals of 
Major-General Riedesel," "Reminiscences of Saratoga and Ballston," 
and " Ballads of the Burgojoie Campaign." A tablet to his memory 
was unveiled by his family at the dedication ceremonies of the 
monument, in October, 1912. 

SULLIVAN'S EXPEDITION was dispatched in 1778 to chastise 
the Senecas and Tories of western New York for their atrocities in 
the Wyoming Valley. Gen. James Clinton, brother of Governor 
Clinton, and father of De Witt Clinton, who had been for some time in 
command at Albany, was orderedto join Sullivan at Tioga Point, on 
the Susquehanna River. He reached Lake Otsego July 17th, but, 
finding the outlet too shallow for his purpose, proceeded to dam the 
water, thereby raising the lake at least two feet. Meantime the 
brigade remained in Cooperstown till August 8th, when the boats 
were transferred to the stream, and the invalids, baggage and pro- 
visions loaded thereon. The remainder of the soldiers prepared to 

[1151 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

march on both sides. The surplus water was cautiously drawn off, 
and with the overflow thus afforded the flotilla was carried over 
shoals and flats, reaching Tioga Point in time to co-operate with 
Sullivan and win the Battle of Newtown (now Elmira). The 
Indians were defeated with great loss, all resistance on their part 
was crushed, and their settlements were destroyed. 

SUSQUEHANNA TRAIL. "The trails which foUowed the Sus- 
quehanna and branches formed the great route to the south and 
west from central New York. Into the most distant regions the 
tribes of the Iroquois, from the earhest ages, have gone over this 
highway of their own building for purposes of war, plunder and 
pleasure. Along the banks of this stream trails had been deeply 
worn by red men's feet. In many cases the white men's roads were 
actually built by widening the trails, as was the case with the present 
road from Sidney to Unadilla, on the north side of the river, and 
the main thoroughfare to Oneonta. An Indian trail was from twelve 
to eighteen inches wide, and often worn to a depth of a foot where 
the soil yielded. In time of war, trained runners were employed to 
carry messages. One Indian could run one hundred miles a day." 
— Halseyy in ^'Old New York Frontier." 

• 

TELEGRAPH, BIRTHPLACE OF THE. In the upper rooms 
of the Albany Academy, Joseph Henry, from 1826 to 1832 one 
of its teachers, first demonstrated the principle of the magnetic 
telegraph in transmitting inteUigence by ringing a bell through a 
mile of wire strung around the room. Morse subsequently invented 
a code of signals and the machine for making them, and the thing 
was done. "The chck heard from every joint of those mystic wires 
which now Unk together every city and village all over this continent 
is but the echo of that httle bell which first sounded in the upper 
room of the Albany Academy." 

• 

UNADILLA was the place where the last attempt was made to 
prevent the Six Nations from joining hands with the EngHsh 
against the Americans in the Revolution. A conference was held there 
in July, 1777, between General Herkimer, who came on with 380 
miUtia, and Chief Joseph Brant, at the head of 130 warriors. After 
a long talk Brant refused to remain at peace. He declared that 
the Indians were in concert with the King, as their fathers and 
grandfathers had been; that the King's belts were yet lodged with 

[1161 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

them, and they could not falsify their pledge; that General Herkimer 
and the rest had joined the Boston people against the King; that 
Boston people were resolute, but the King would humble them; 
that the Indians had formerly made war on the whites all united, 
and now that they were divided, the Indians were not frightened. The 
Indians raised the war-whoop, but for the time were restrained by 
Brant. Just then the bright July sun was clouded, and a terrific 
storm of hail and rain compelled both sides to seek shelter, an omen, 
as it was thought, of the dire events that soon devastated that 
unfortunate frontier. Unadilla was a Tory settlement, and suffered 
from the other side. 



VALE OF TAWASENTHA is Longfellow's Indian name for the 
valley of the Normanskill, crossed by the Susquehanna Division 
of the Delaware and Hudson, in Albany county. It was the home of 
Nawadaha, the sweet singer. 

"In the vale of Tawasentha, 

In the green and silent valley, 

By the pleasant water courses 

Dwelt the singer Nawadaha. 

Round about the Indian village 

Spread the meadows and the cornfields, 

And beyond them stood the forest. 

Stood the groves of singing pine trees, 

Green in summer, white in winter. 

Ever sighing, ever singing. 
"And the pleasant water courses; 

You could trace them through the valley 

By the rushing in the springtime. 

By the alders in the summer. 

By the white fog in the autumn, 

By the black line in the winter; 

And beside them dwelt the singer, 

In the vale of Tawasentha, 

In the green and silent valley, 
There he sang of Hiawatha, 
Sang the song of Hiawatha." 

— Longfellow. 

VAN CORLEAR OR CURLER, ARENDT, was a Holland 
pioneer of the Seventeenth Century, who founded Schenectady, 
made peace with the Indians, and for many years had jurisdiction 
from Beeren Island, in the Hudson, to the mouth of the Mohawk, 
controUing nearly a thousand square miles of fur-bearing territory. 
He was accidentally drowned, at the age of sixty-seven, off Split 

[1171 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

Rock (q. v.), in Lake Champlain, afterward known to the Dutch 
as Corlear's Lake. 

VAN RENSSELAER, GEN. SOLOMON (1774-1852), who is 
buried in the Rural Cemetery (q. v.), was with "Mad" Anthony 
Wayne at the Battle of Maumee Rapids, August, 1794, and was 
shot through the lungs. He refused a Utter. "You young dog," 
exclaimed Wayne, "how are you going?" "I am an officer of the 
cavahy," was the reply, "and I go on horseback." "You will 
drop by the road, " said Wayne. "If I do, just cover me up, and let 
me die there." He had his way, rode six miles supported on either 
side by a dragoon, and hved to lead the attack at Queenston Heights, 
October 13, 1812, when he was again severely wounded. He was 
afterwards postmaster at Albany, and served in Congress. His 
brother Nicholas, a colonel in the Revolution, was despatched by 
General Gates to carry the news of the surrender of Burgoyne to 
Albany. 

VAN SCHAICK'S ISLAND is one of the three in the Hudson 
at the mouth of the Mohawk, where, in the summer of 1777, General 
Schuyler cast up fortifications to dispute with Burgoyne the passage 
of that river, should he ever get that far. The earthworks are visible 
from the car windows. (See Burgoyne's Campaign, and Hudson 
River.) 

VROOMAN, COL. PETER, commanded the Middle Fort in 
Schoharie county during Johnson's and Brant's invasion in October, 
1780. He was prominent in all the border warfare of this section 
throughout the Revolution, and was largely responsible for the 
repulse of the Tory invaders. A monument to his memory was 
unveiled at the Old Stone Fort (q. v.) on October 17, 1913, by the 
Daughters of the American Revolution. 

• 

WARNER, SETH, one of the leaders of the Green Mountam 
Boys, was born at Roxbury, Conn., May 17, 1743, and died 
there December 26, 1784. He was second in command at the 
capture of Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen, in May, 1775, and was 
subsequently a colonel of Vermont militia. He performed much 
valuable service in the Revolution, commanding the rear guard of 
St. Clair's retreating army at Hubbardton. He was a prominent 
factor in the Battle of Bennington, which had such disastrous effect 
upon the fortunes of Bm-goyne at Saratoga. A statue of him now 
stands beside the Battle Monument in the village of Old Bennington. 

[118 J 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

WAR PATH OF THE NATIONS has been applied by latter-day 
historians to the old military road built by Gen. Sir William Johnson 
in 1755 (see Johnson's Expedition), and later in constant use for 
miUtary purposes throughout the French and Indian and Revo- 
lutionary Wars. It led from Fort Edward to Fort William Henry, 
and its location practically follows the main streets of Hudson 
Falls, Glens Falls and Lake George. From Glens Falls to Lake 
George its course has been marked by the Glens Falls Chapter of 
the Daughters of the American Revolution. Over it have passed 
the armies of Johnson, Webb, Abercrombie and Amherst; the forces 
of Dieskau and the flying scouts of Montcalm; the British troops 
under Burgoyne and Riedesel; the American commands of Arnold, 
Schuyler, Stark and Gates; and, still later, the troops of Gen. 
George Izard hurrying to the support of Sackett's Harbor, in the 
War of 1812. "The Old Indian Road" — old before written history 
began — ^it contains the strategic heart of the continent; and while 
through its portals today there flow only the pulsing throngs of 
peace, so long as time endures it will rouse a just and martial pride 
in the breast of every patriotic American. 

WATERVLIET ARSENAL, where great guns are cast, is one of 
the chief ordnance factories of the United States Army. Twelve 
acres were purchased, and the first buildings erected in the first 
decade of the last century. They stand between the railroad and 
the river in Watervhet. 

WEBSTER'S TOAST, as given at the reception to General 
Lafayette in Albany, July 1, 1825, is as follows: ''The ancient and 
honorable city of Albany, where General Lafayette found his head- 
quarters in 1778, and where men of his principles find good quarters 
at all times." 

WHITEHALL, formerly Skenesborough, was founded by Philip 
Skene, a major in the EngUsh Army, who, in 1759, was given a large 
grant of land on Lake Champlain, which he increased by purchase 
to about 60,000 acres. He was made governor of Crown Point and 
Ticonderoga, judge and postmaster, estabUshed sawmills and foun- 
dries, constructed and sailed vessels on the lake, and opened roads to 
Albany. His house, situated on Wilham Street, was of stone, thirty 
by forty feet, two and one-half stories high; and his barn, also of 
stone, was one hundred and thirty feet long. The keystone of the 
arched doorway, bearing the letters " P. K. S." and the date " 1770, " 
is preserved in the walls of the Baptist Church. In the Revolution he 

[1191 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

and his eon acted as guides to Burgoyne from Canada; but when the 
British evacuated Skenesborough, their commander, General Haldi- 
mand, fearing the settlement might be of service to the Americans, 
ordered it burned, and Colonel Skene saw an invested fortune and the 
fruits of many years * labor destroyed by his own countrymen. Later 
he was attainted of treason by the State of New York, and his estate 
confiscated. So he returned to England where he was given twenty 
thousand pounds and a Ufe pension. During the War of 1812, the 
fort and blockhouse at Whitehall were rebuilt by the Americans. 

WILKES-BARRE, in Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, the southern 
terminus of the Delaware and Hudson, was named after John Wilkes 
and Col. Isaac Barre, advocates of the Colonists in the British 
Parliament during and preceding the Revolution. It was settled 
in 1769, but five years later, during the Pennamite- Yankee War, 
twenty-three out of twenty-six buildings were burned, and it was 
rather slow in again getting started. The Wyoming Monument, 
near-by, marks the site of one of the most sanguinary episodes of the 
Revolution. (See Wyoming Massacre.) 

WILLIAMS MONUMENT, a huge boulder near Lake George, 
was placed in position in 1854, by graduates of WiUiams College, to 
commemorate the founder of that institution, who was instantly 
killed while at the head of his command, September 8, 1777, in his 
forty-second year. (See Battle of Lake George.) It is said that, 
while on his way with twelve hundred New England soldiers to join 
General Johnson, he had, at Albany, a presentiment of early death, 
and then and there made a will leaving the most of his property to 
found a free school at WilUamstown, Mass., the funds from which, 
after accumulation for thirty years, became the foundation of the 
college. 

WILLIAMS MONUMENT, THE DAVID, stands in the yard 
near the Old Stone Fort (q. v.), in Schoharie. It was erected in 1876, 
by the State of New York, to commemorate one of the captors of 
Maj. John Andr6, who was arrested as a spy, September 23, 1780, 
and hanged October 2 of the same year. So impressed was General 
Washington with the patriotism of these three men in refusing all 
bribes offered by Andre for his release that, although they delivered 
up their prisoner without claiming any reward, or even leaving their 
names, Washington sought them out, and on his recommendation 
Congress presented each with a silver medal bearing on one side the 
word Fidelity and on the other the legend Vincet amor patriae. 

[120] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

Williams also received a pension of $2,000 a year from the govern- 
ment. After the war he bought a farm in Albany county that had 
been the property of Daniel Shays, the leader of Shays's Rebellion. 
In December, 1830, he visited New York by invitation of the Mayor, 
who gave him a horse, harness and carriage, and the pupils of one 
of the public schools gave him a silver cup. He died near Livingston- 
ville, August 2, 1831, aged 77. 

WING'S FALLS was the original name of Glens Falls, the name 
being changed, it is said, as a result of a wine supper given by Col. 
John Glen of Schenectady, quartermaster during the French and 
Indian and also the Revolutionary Wars. 

WINTHROP'S EXPEDITION. FoUowing the Schenectady 
Massacre (q. v.), which occurred February 8, 1690, and brought the 
Enghsh colonists to a realization of the danger which threatened 
from the north, Governor Leisler, of the Province of New York, 
proposed a union of the New York and New England colonies, for 
the purpose of driving the French from Canada. In furtherance of 
this plan, he called in New York, in April, the first Colonial Congress 
that ever assembled in America. It was finally agreed that an army 
of about eight hundred should be raised, and the number of men to 
be provided were apportioned among New York, Massachusetts, 
Connecticut and Plymouth. Even Maryland to the south promised 
one hundred. The command was given to Fitz John Winthrop, who 
was commissioned a major-general for the purpose. He left Hartford, 
Connecticut, on July 14th, and in seven days (for the country was 
then almost impassable) arrived in Albany, where the balance of 
the troops were finally collected. On the 30th of July the advance 
was begun. The army was small and correspondingly mobile, yet 
the difficulties which it met in its march northward through the 
wilderness were well nigh insuperable. We have an accurate account 
of its progress, drawn from original sources, by Benjamin Clapp 
Butler, which is of much interest today as a contrast between modern 
transportation and the laborious progress of Winthrop 's fittle com- 
mand. The trains of the Delaware and Hudson now leave the old 
Northeast Gate of Fort Orange (see Albany), and in less than three 
hours traverse mile by mile the same route that Winthrop's forces, 
going light, and inured to forest travel, covered so wearisomely 
in three times that number of days. 

"On the 30th the New England troops and the Indians 
moved up four miles, and encamped upon the flats (Watervliet). 

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THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

"August 1. Quartered at Stillwater, *80 named because the 
water passes so slowly as not to be discovered ; while above and 
below it is disturbed and rageth, as in a great sea, occasioned 
by rocks and falls therein.' 

"August 2d. The General moved forward to Saraghtoga 
(Schuylerville), about fifty miles from Albany, where was a 
blockhouse and some Dutch soldiers. At this place, he was 
joined by Mr. Wessels, recorder of Albany, and a company 
of the principal gentlemen, volunteers from that city. He 
here got letters from Maj. Peter Schuyler, the mayor of 
Albany, who had preceded him with the Dutch troops, to the 
effect that he was up to the Second Carrying Place (Fort Miller), 
making canoes for the army. Thus far 'the way had been 
very good, only four great wading rivers, one of them (the 
Mohawk) dangerous for both horse and man.' 

"August 4th. Divided the provisions, thirty-five cakes of 
bread to each soldier, besides the pork, and moved up eight 
miles (to Fort Miller) ; the Dutch soldiers carrying up their 
supplies in their birch canoes and the Connecticut troops 
carrying them on horses. Here 'the water passeth so violently, 
by reason of the great falls and rocks, that canoes cannot pass, 
so they were forced to carry their provisions and canoes on their 
backs, a pretty ways to a passable part of the river.' 

''August 5th. The soldiers marched, with their provisions 
on horses, about eight miles, to the Great Carrying Place (Fort 
Edward), the Dutch having gone up in their canoes. 

"August 6th. The command marched over the Carrying 
Place twelve miles, to the forks on Wood Creek (Fort Ann). 
The way was up a continual swamp abounding with tall white 
pine. The New York companies excited the General's admira- 
tion at the vigorous manner in which, and without any repining, 
they carried their canoes and provisions across upon their backs. 

"August 7th. Having sent thirty horses back to Saraghtoga 
for more provisions, under command of Ensign Thomilson, the 
General passed down the creek with two files of musketeers, 
in bark canoes, flanked by the Indians marching by the river- 
side, commanded by Captain Stanton, to the Hautkill (Whitehall), 
where he encamped with Major Schuyler and the Mohawk 
captains, on the north side of Wood Creek. 

"On the 9th of August, information came through Captain 
Johnson, who had been sent to Albany some days since to 
procure additional supplies of provisions, that the Senecas and 
other Indians, whom he expected to meet at the Isle La Motte, 
near the north end of Lake Champlain, had not left their 
country on account of the small-pox breaking out among them. 
The expression they used was 'that the Great God had stopt 
their way.' The small-pox had also broken out in the army, 
and seriously reduced the available force. 

"In the meantime Major Schuyler had sent forward Capt. 
Sanders Glen with a scouting party of twenty-eight men and 

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THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

five Indians (the same one who had been spared at the Schenec- 
tady Massacre), who had proceeded as far as 'Ticonderoga,' 
where he erected some stone breastworks, and had been since 
the fifth of August waiting for the expedition to come up. 

"It was now found that the time was so far spent, the bark 
would not peel, so no more canoes could be made. 

" The provisions were also giving out, and it was ascertained 
from the commissaries at Albany that no further considerable 
supply could be forwarded. It was, therefore, on the 15th, 
resolved in a council of war to return with the army." 

Though Winthrop's Expedition was a failure, a portion of his 
forces, under Captain John Schuyler, of that family which was 
always at the forefront in the Colonial wars (see Schuyler Family), 
proceeded on down Lake Champlain, as the army turned back, and 
deUvered the first attack upon Fort La Prairie (q. v.). 

WOOD CREEK, which flows into South Bay, at the head of 
Lake Champlain, was an important portion of the water highway 
between the St. Lawrence and the Hudson. It was navigable for 
canoes to a point within eleven miles of the Hudson at Fort Ed- 
ward. The portage between these two places was known as the 
Great Carrying Place, and the route was often used by both French 
and Enghsh. Today it hes on the highway between Albany and 
Montreal, the tracks of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad following 
it mile for mile after leaving Fort Edward. The sluggish waters 
of the creek flow silently beside the car windows, giving never a hint 
to travelers and vacationists of the savage war parties and scarcely 
less relentless mihtary expeditions that once pHed its waters. 

WYOMING MASSACRE. The beautiful Wyoming VaUey, 
about twenty-one miles long by three wide, through which runs the 
north branch of the Susquehanna River, was early claimed, under 
charter rights, by both Connecticut and Pennsylvania, although no 
attempt was made at settlement till 1763, when the Susquehanna 
Company, of Connecticut, which had purchased the lands from the 
Indians about ten years previous, sent out colonists. But in less 
than twelve months they were all massacred or driven away. In 1768 
Pennsylvania also bought the land from the Indians, and established 
a settlement the year following. About the same time another party 
arrived from Connecticut, and there was continual strife between 
the two, till, in 1771, the king confirmed the claim of Connecticut. 
On the breaking out of the Revolution the eastern settlers, after 
expelling what few Tories there were in the neighborhood, resolved 

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THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

that they would "unanimously join our brethren of Connecticut 
in the common cause of defending our country." But in 1778 the 
expelled Tories and an additional white force, with seven hundred 
Indians, eleven hundred in all, led by John Butler, marched against 
the settlement. At first the settlers took refuge in the ''Forty Fort, " 
near the present Wilkes-Barre, but, on July 3, about all the males 
(400) sallied forth to attack the invaders, and were disastrously 
defeated, two-thirds of their number being killed, captured or 
massacred. The remainder took refuge in the fort, which the next 
day surrendered. Many prisoners were killed and tortured by 
Indian squaws, and the sufferings of those who sought to escape 
were terrible. "Shades of Death" is the name by which a swamp near 
Willces-Barre is known, and where a hundred women perished of 
fatigue and starvation following the massacre. 



YANKEE DOODLE. The tune itseK is very old, and may have 
originated either in Holland, France or Spain. It was sung in 
England in the reign of Charles I, and words were set to it in ridicule 
of Cromwell; 

"Yankee Doodle came to town 
Upon a Kentish pony, 
He stuck a feather in his cap 
Upon a macaroni." 

In the summer of 1758, while the British Army, under the un- 
fortunate General Abercrombie, lay encamped in Greenbush, now 
Rensselaer, on the grounds belonging to Jeremiah Van Rennselaer, 
in anticipation of the march to Crown Point, which ended so disas- 
trously at FortTiconderoga, reinforcements, consisting of Continental 
Militia, arrived from the east. Their uniforms, and the lack thereof, 
their accoutrements and general appearance afforded much food 
for mirth among the regulars. Attached to the staff of the command- 
ing general was a musical wit named Dr. Richard Shuckburg, after- 
wards appointed Secretary of Indian Affairs by Sir Wilham Johnson, 
and he, with an idea of teasing rather than pleasing, wrote down the 
notes of the old tune, changing the words sHghtly, and gave the 
composition to the chief musician of the Eastern troops as the 
latest martial music of England. Greatly to his surprise and amuse- 
ment, it was taken seriously, and the camp rang morning, noon and 
night with the strains of Yankee Doodle, which, then and there, was 
unanimously adopted as the favorite air of the Continental Militia, 
and served as such throughout the Revolution. 

[124] 



BIBLIOGRAPHY 

ALBANY HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS 

Historic Albany: A manual of Albany. Preparedly the American 
History Students of the Albany High School, for the New 
York State Teachers' Association. Contains much valuable con- 
densed information and a further bibliography of Albany. 

APPLETON'S CYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY 

ARMSTRONG, JOHN 

Life of Gen. Richard Montgomery. In Sparks' s Library of 
American Biography. 

BANKS, A. BLEECKER 
Albany Bi-Centennial- 

BEAUCHAMP, WILLIAM M. 

History of the New York Iroquois. Publications of New York 

State Educational Department, Albany. 
Aboriginal Occupation of New York. Publications of New York 

State Educational Department, Albany. 
Aboriginal Place Names of New York. Publications of New 

York State Educational Department, Albany. 

BOSSOM, ALFRED C. 

The Restoration of Fort Ticonderoga. In Eighteenth Annual 
Report of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation 
Society, 1918. 

BRANDOW, J. H. 

Story of Old Saratoga. 

BUTLER, BENJAMIN CLAPP 

Lake George and Lake Champlain, from their First Discovery 
to 1759. 

CAMPBELL, W. W. 

Annals of Tyron County 

COFFIN, R. B. 

The Home of Cooper. 

CONVERSE, HARRIET MAXWELL 

Myths and Legends of the New York State Iroquois. Publica- 
tions of New York State Educational Department, Albany. 

COOPER, J. F. 

Chronicles of Cooperstown. 

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THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

CREASY, SIR EDWARD SHEPHERD 
Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World. 

CROCKETT, WALTER HILL 
A History of Lake Champlain. 

CUTTER, WILLIAM 

Life of Israel Putnam. 

DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE COLONIAL HISTORY 
OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK 

These are published by the State of New York, and constitute an 
invaluable collection for those whose interest takes them further 
than the narratives of secondary writers. 

EVERETT, EDWARD 

Life of John Stark. In Sparks' s Library of American Biography. 

GRAHAM, JAMES 

Life of Gen. Dan Morgan. 

HALL, HENRY 

Life of Ethan Allen. 

HALSEY 

Old New York Frontier. 

HILL, HENRY WAYLAND 

The Champlain Tercentenary: Report of the New York State 
Lake Champlain Tercentenary Commission. 

HOLDEN, JAMES AUSTIN 

New Historical Light on the Real Burial Place of George 
Augustus Lord Viscount Howe. In Transactions of New 
York State Historical Association, Vol. X, 1911. 

HUMPHREYS, COLONEL DAVID 
Life of Israel Putnam. 

LANDON, JUDSON S. 

Historic Towns of the Middle States. 

LOSSING, BENSON J. 

Cyclopaedia of U. S. History. 

The Empire State: A Compendious History of the Common- 
wealth of New York. 
The Hudson from the Wilderness to the Sea. 
Life of Gen. PhiUp Schuyler. 

LOUNSBURY 

Life of James Fenimore Cooper. 

[126] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

PALMER, PETER S. 

History of Lake Champlain. 

PARKMAN, FRANCIS 

Pioneers of France in the New World. 

The Jesuits in North America. 

The Old Regime in Canada under Louis XIV. 

Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV. 

A Half Century of Conflict. 

Montcalm and Wolfe. 

Historic Handbook of the Northern Tour. A condensation of 

much of the material from the above volumes^ referring to the 

struggles in the Champlain Valley. 

PELL, HOWLAND 

The Germain Redoubt at Ticonderoga. In Eighteenth Annual 
Report of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation 
Society, 1913. 

REYNOLDS, CUYLER 

Albany Chronicles. 

ROOSEVELT, THEODORE 
Naval War of 1812. 

SILLIMAN, PROF. B. 

Tour Between Hartford and Quebec. 

SIMMS, JEPTHA R. 

History of Schoharie County. 
Border Wars. 

SPARKS, JARED 

Life of Ethan Allen. In Sparks^s Library of American Biography. 

STARK, CALEB 

Memoir and Official Correspondence of Gen. John Stark. 

STONE, WILLIAM L. 

Border Wars of the American Revolution. 

Life of Joseph Brant. 

Life of Red-Jacket. 

Poetry and History of Wyoming. 

Uncas and Miantonomah. 

STONE, WILLIAM L., JR. 

Life and Times of Sir WilUam Johnson. 

Letters and Journals of Mrs. General Riedesel. 

Life and Military Journals of Major-General Riedesel. 

Reminiscences of Saratoga and Ballston. 

Ballads of the Burgoyne Campaign. 

[127] 



THE SUMMER PARADISE IN HISTORY 

SYLVESTER, NATHANIEL BARTLETT 

Historical Sketches of Northern New York and the Adirondack 
Wilderness. 

TARBOX, INCREASE N. 
Life of Israel Putnam. 

THOMPSON, DANIEL PIERCE 

The Green Mountain Boys. 

The Rangers; or the Tory's Daughter. 

WALWORTH, ELLEN HARDIN 

Historic Towns. 

WATSON, WINSLOW C. 

Pioneer History of the Champlain Valley. 

WEISE, ARTHUR JAMES 

History of the City of Albany. 




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